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Jacques Derrida (philosopher): What is Differance?
(Two things I should mention off the bat. First, I'm new to Derrida, so my understanding of this concept may be somewhat entry level and, second, this will probably have led to my understanding being coloured by my own thinking; that said...)I'm going to go through two threads - first the meaning of the term 'différance' and second the importance of this term to Derrida's broader philosophical project.Différer and Différance The word 'Différance' relies on the capacities for punning in the French verb 'différer'. Used transitively - i.e. in reference to a direct object, as in 'to elect someone' - différer means 'to defer' or to postpone in time. On the other hand, différer used intransitively means 'to differ' or 'to differentiate' - Derrida refers to this as "the sense of not being identical, of being other, of being discernible".In other words, différer in French can be taken to indicate difference in either time ("Let's defer our lunch till a better time") or space ("This sandwich is different from that one"). Note that the first meaning is active - it's a decision undertaken by a subject - while the second meaning is passive, referring to a spatial relation between objects that is simply given.'Differance' (I'm dropping the accent because the term has been widely anglicised now, at least in philosophy) is a coinage that Derrida arrived at in order to take advantage of the punning capabilities of différer; the coinage is intended to imply both meanings of the verb simultaneously. This seemed to me, when I first read about it, to be an unnecessary move - since the existent verb made this pun possible in any case, why was the new word necessary? As I understand it now, this is because différer can indeed mean either term - deferral or differentiation - but only one at a time. 'Differance', by contrast, refers both to an act of deferral and an act of differentiation at one and the same time.Saussure and language as the play of differencesPerhaps now's a good time to back-track a little, I'll pick up the thread again in a sec. Derrida arrived at the concept of differance in response to the work of philosopher and linguist Ferdinand de Saussure. Saussure's theory of language characterised it as a system of differences. That is, each term within a linguistic system derives its, for want of a better word, potency from its difference from other terms within the language. This shouldn't be understood only as being a difference between terms related as positive and negative, such as 'day' and 'night', 'up' and 'down', 'full' and 'empty', but rather as differences without positive terms. That is, the word 'day' derives its significance, its potency, only via its difference from 'night', 'cat', 'mint', 'suspension', 'picked', 'hobble', 'artifice', 'shout', and so on. DifferanceSo, to return to 'differance'. According to Derrida's essay differance is the movement that produces or precedes these differences within language that Saussure describes. Perhaps the best way of showing this lies in unpacking the term 'differance' itself. This is because Derrida intended the word not only to be a signification of the concept he was trying to get across, the play of differences within language, but also an immediate enactment of that play.A brief recap. 'Differance' takes advantage of the punning capabilities of the French verb 'différer '; whereas the latter term can mean either 'deferral' (which is temporal) or 'differentiation' (which is spatial), 'differance' means both terms at once. How is this possible? Is it possible?If we take 'differance' to mean 'deferral', then this is to immediately efface its reference to 'differentiation'. This means that in taking it to refer to a postponement, a deferral, we are also and at exactly the same time differentiating this temporal meaning from the other spatial meaning of the term. In taking 'differance' to mean 'defer' we are engaging in an act of differentiation.If we take 'differance' to mean 'differentiation', then this is to immediately efface its reference to 'deferral'. This means that in referring to an act of spatial differentiation, we are also - again, at exactly the same time - deferring indefinitely the term's ability to arrive at full meaning. In taking 'differance' to mean 'differentiation' we are engaging in an act of deferral.Simply (and possibly misleadingly) put, if we take 'differance' to mean 'differentiation' this means that, so long as this state of affairs pertains, the word's ability to mean 'deferral' has itself been deferred indefinitely. If on the other hand we take it to mean 'deferral' then it has been differentiated from its other available meaning, differentiation. Thus 'differance' is a term that necessarily, in meaning anything, differs from itself. Using it in any way means becoming involved in an endless tail-chasing.So 'differance' is Derrida's word coined to describe, but also to perform, the play of differences in language that makes terms capable of meaning anything.Speech and writingNow that the concept is established it can be seen how it ties into Derrida's wider project of deconstruction. I'm going to go over this briefly since I'm new to Derrida, as said, and I reckon I'll only mangle this utterly if I try to be comprehensive.Derrida's project was basically to question the system of hierarchies that western philosophy - and particularly metaphysics - has posited since the time of Plato. In particular he wants to question the primacy of speech over writing.Writing is described in almost all philosophical systems as being secondary to speech. Whereas speech is immediate, immaterial, trustworthy, writing is distance, material, duplicitous. Derrida begins his criticism of this perceived hierarchy, of writing as an image of speech, in drawing upon a little-known essay by Jean-Jacques Rousseau, in which Rousseau describes writing as being a 'dangerous supplement' to speech. This was intended to imply writing's lack of necessity but in fact, as Derrida noted, the term 'supplement' implies two things:that, as Rousseau presumably intended, speech is complete in and of itself and, though it doesn't require writing, writing has come about as a result of speech's 'abundance'; orthat speech, in and of itself, lacks something that writing comes about in order to supply.By way of illumination, let's say a football team makes a substitution during the second half of the game. In itself this can mean one of two things - it can mean that the team is struggling to score and the substitute will hopefully redress or otherwise 'fill up' this lack. Or it can mean that the team is in such a good position, is scoring so easily and consistently, that it can afford to substitute one player for another without risking a loss. While Rousseau, by analogy, intended the latter as the case for writing, Derrida pointed out that the former meaning is also a necessary requirement of describing writing as 'supplementary'. In other words, speech isn't as fully present or immediate, trustworthy and so on, as the tradition heretofore assumed.This is deconstruction at work. Derrida looks for the assumptions or the circumlocution in a philosophical theory, which is usually present in the binary oppositions that that theory presumes, and which is revealed in marginalia. For example, a Freudian psychoanalyst would look for the slips of the tongue, the verbal tics or the jokes that are generally considered marginal to actual discourse, but which reveal the underlying worries or concerns that the discourse is, in part, intended to elide. Derrida is looking for the verbal tics, the slips of the tongue and diversionary tactics that exist in the Western philosophical tradition.Deconstruction and differanceDeconstruction shouldn't be taken as simply the inversion of the binary so that the typically inferior term - body, in contrast to soul for example - should become superior. This would just be perverse. Nor does he advocate that we discard the tradition; this would be to waste an immensely useful set of resources with no apparent gain. The term 'deconstruction' is a medieval one - it refers to the practice of taking apart a ballista or siege engine in order that it be made transportable and thus capable of being set up elsewhere in a different circumstance. In the same way Derrida seeks to take apart the engines of philosophical tradition, the hierarchies they assume, in order that they can be reconfigured to take into account those marginals cases that they sought to elide or to deny. Differance, being the preceding movement that makes linguistic terms, and hence binary oppositions, possible in the first place, is the theoretic tool by which this project is undertaken.
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Is life at Goldman Sachs really bad?
Originally answered - Shilpi Roy's answer to Should I choose signNow or Goldman Sachs (India)?The answer is gonna be really long. Grab some snacks as it could take a while.I was the happiest person the day I was selected as a FTE (tech analyst position) at GS - a reputed fin-tech company which mostly hires tier-1 students, a dream for many. I heard from many people that GS offers package as high as 32lpa which was quite a big deal for me - or for anyone who might have been at my place.Then came the HR’s call. She offered me semester long internship in GS! I was glad that I don’t have to spend my last semester in college and will also earn some money. With the stipend as high as 75k and stay at Hilton hotel during intern, anybody is likely to go crazy and say “YES”.And so I did.The beginning (GS-Bengaluru office)Soon came 7th January. Day started off with amazing orientation and office visit. Then came the lunch buddy - GS assigns a buddy from your department to have lunch with you the day you join, let’s say he was Raghav (name changed).Raghav seemed to be a really smart guy. I asked him a few questions about GS being a fin-tech, is it easy to switch and other questions. He seemed to be out of place, not interested. A guy came who was an intern in a team in which Raghav used to work. He kept talking and giggling with him, completely ignoring my presence. Cool, maybe Raghav is a bad guy - who cares?Met with my manager and two other interns who were in the same department - GIR. He seemed like a chilled-out and thoughtful person. Let’s call him Rudra.Our whole department used to sit in a middle sized cabin which accommodated around 32–35 employees of GIR. My happiness knew no bounds! Great team, small cabin and friendly manager - what else could I ask for?Then came the next day. We were introduced to our team and had a lunch together. Oh no! Lunch here was not free - no big deal. Only 80rs/- per plate is affordable when you earn 75k per month, I thought.After having lunch, we began installing softwares required. Wait, you can’t install some softwares without manager’s permission. Fine! I messaged my manager and he granted the permission. He came later in the evening and gave 3 of us an interesting machine learning problem to solve - in a week, till we get our projects.He had three projects in mind, and he left it for us to decide which one we want to take. I took the one which I thought was more impactful and cool, also because we had a member of our team working for the project. My task was to integrate the backend stuff he wrote with the UI I was going to create. Also to help him with some of those backend stuffs later on.“You can take help from Varun, in case you need” said Rudra.So it began!1st MonthI started learning React.js for the UI I was going to implement from various websites. There were tons of tutorial there. After understanding some theory, I clicked on ‘try it on codepen’ - online editor.“You are restricted from using an external website - no permissions”What? I can’t even use some online editor. Okay that’s fine - we have pretty sensitive data in GS. Since it’s a finance based company, we have client data with us and user may copy and paste it online - someone might steal the data! All this made sense. ‘It’s fine, I’ll bring my own laptop tommorow’, I thought before leaving.I could see two teammates standing behind me from my peripheral vision. One who was writing the backend stuff for the project I was working upon, let’s call him Varun.Varun was a silent and sober guy - a hardworking one who speaks only when required. Another guy standing beside him was Raghav.“Hey!” I said in a low tone.“Did I do some crime? Why are these two here?” I wondered.“You brought your personal laptop, is everything fine here?” they asked.I told them about the restrictions. Raghav took my work PC and sent Rudra, my manager a request to approve codepen.I waited. One hour. Two hours. Codepen still not working. Fine for me since I have my own laptop. No worries.After 2 weeks Varun called me and started assigning tasks to do for the UI. I was full of enthusiasm and paid full attention to what he wanted. I started looking out for the cool libraries out there and found - material-ui.‘Perfect!’ I exclaimed.Started with the tasks, and was able to achieve the target next evening. It looked damn good! Varun will be happy. And so, I showed it to him.“Okay, font-size is a bit huge. And please change the app’s name - ELEGANT USER’S APP” (name changed). And so I did.“E-L-E-G-E-N-T U-S-E-R—S A-P-P”What a funny name, I thought. (The real one was funnier than the changed one)So days went, 1..2…3 and I completed 5–6 tasks. The basic UI (20%) was done. Then came Varun -“Shilpi, you did this using which library?”“Material-ui! It’s really good and..”“Okay, but make sure you can use it. Only specific libraries can be used at GS. Search xyz site and ensure if we can use it. If yes, proceed. Else use GS UI library”What did he just say. I worked on the UI for 2 weeks, and he is telling me now that I may not be able to use the material-ui library! No way..With my heart beating fast, I typed..X..Y….Z …..gs..comCtrl+F“M-A——T-E—-R—I—A”Boom! It’s there. I was delighted :)The next day I was late. I saw a message pop up. It was from Raghav.“Hey” it said.“Hey” I replied.“Please try to attend the daily standup. If you don’t, mail Rudra about your update :)” He replied.There hasn’t been a single day I was late. But okay, FINE.Then came the 5th day - friday. I got a message from Varun.‘Hi Shilpi, can you make another UI using GS-UI?’Oh No!. Again?.‘Just for the feel…we’ll show it to Rudra next week, he’ll choose which one we can use’*Slow Claps*Well played Varun. Why did he approve the material-ui one if he wanted it in GS-UI - I wondered.It’s fine, I can do it. I encouraged myself and went to the internal site - gs-ui-library. (name changed)Okay, fine. This looks good. Okay. Cool. Documentation.. documentation….uhmm.I searched for the whole day, no documentation. Just few codes and examples to understand how to display some component.Way uglier than material-ui - I thought. And a minute later, an evil idea came to my mind..“What if I make the UI using gs-ui-library so ugly that Rudra and Varun both reject! That would be great!”The next week on friday, I was done with gs-ui-library. My code was asked to be removed from codesandbox by Varun - it’s illegal to put GS’s internal code there. I could hear Rudra laughing about how he is afraid of the interns bringing personal laptops here, and what will happen if someone names a variable as “GIR” and put it on github.I showed Rudra the material-ui one. He was impressed.“This looks good! But don’t keep the name as ‘ ELEGANT USERS APP’, instead keep it as ‘THE USERS SEARCH APP’ ” (name changed)“But Rudra, Varun has asked me to..”“I will ask him. We will decide and tell you”Fine. Keep the name as ‘The bla-bla app’. I don’t care.Varun was already gone by the time.I smirked. I won’t show the UI I made using gs-ui-library to Rudra!Next day Varun was on my desk. He asked whether I showed both the UI’s.“No, actually I forgot to show the other..”“See, the people above us will probably ask why we didn’t use GS-UI. That’s why I am saying so. I have no problem with material-ui. Just ask Rudra if he is fine with it. Rudra…”“Yes, Varun” replied Rudra.And then he showed both the UI’s to him. The ugly one. The good one.“I think it looks great - the ‘gs-ui-library’ one!” Rudra exclaimed.I shouted in my mind - “How can he..!”“See Shilpi, we don’t have any problem using material-ui one but the people for whom we are making the app will ask why we didn’t use the internal-gs library. Okay, tell me one thing - it does have all the components you require, right?”“Yes, Rudra” I sighed.“Seems like Shilpi wanted to use material-ui, haha” Rudra giggled and looked at Varun. I could hear the giggling from one if the two interns from behind - Tejas (name changed).He was also working on a UI, along with some backend stuff. He was using ‘gs-ui-library’ from day one. And so, he giggled.Rudra -1 .. Shilpi - 0This was the first time I went home feeling sad. Why didn’t they tell me 2 weeks ago? Now I will have to work on the other one. And the library has no documentation.Next week , Varun decided to keep the name as “ELEGENT-USERS-APP”. He refused Rudra.Varun -1.. Rudra- 0So I went back to my desk and began.“g-s-u-i-l-i-b-r-a-r-y” I typed.Gs-ui-library was a really terrible library. No documentation, made by mixture of other available libraries online. It was like an accidental product of some cross-breeding. A scientific failure.Anyways, I somehow learnt basic features which I could implement using the library. On the other hand, my machine was damn slow - for a reason I didn’t know.“Why are you using vs code? How did you get it!” asked Rudra who saw me coding on vscode.“I like it- it’s really good for react. Installed it from the store.”“Haha, use intellij, okay!” Rudra said in a serious tone.Wow. After making me work with the gs-ui-library, now he is snatching away the editor I love. Cool.I still continued with vs code. Varun was totally fine with it.I went to drink a glass of water. Didn’t bring my bottle that day. So took a ‘visitor’s cup’ from inside the drawers.“Ma’am, you can’t drink in that. It’s only for visitors” said a staff guy who saw that I was about to drink water from the visitor’s cup.I looked at him in shock.“Oh, it’s ok for today you can use it..Ma’am” he replied.Great. Block websites - facebook, gmail, codepen. Take my material-ui away. Don’t allow me to use vs-code. And also, don’t let me drink water at peace!I was pissed off. Huh!2nd MonthSo I started working on the integration part. Meanwhile we used to have meetings in which we were told about GIR and it’s functions. Rudra used to tell us about how fun the NAPA training is going to be, and how we will start hiding our id cards after the event.I completed the integration part in a week or so. Gave a weekly demo to Rudra.Next week was going to be a demo with Monica’s team (name changed). The finance guys for whom we were building the ‘ELEGANT USERS APP’. Varun was happy that I had completed the integration part and added 2 more features to implement.- feature1 & feature2Before the demo, we had a meeting with Monica just a week before. Rudra, Varun and I gathered in a room.“So Shilpi, how’s the work going? Are you liking it - the UI stuff? Aren’t you bored?” Rudra asked.“Hehe.. Actually yeah it’s a little boring. I hope backend stuff starts soon!” I honestly replied.“You know UI people make the most money.” Rudra smirked.“No, that’s a lie. Backend people make more money.” I replied.“Shilpi, that’s the case of technical firms. In financial firms like us, UI people earn more bonus.” said Varun.Soon came Monica. Varun and Monica proceeded on what she wants and what actually we have. It was a debate between them and I listened.Since the lunch time was over, Rudra and I went to the food-court outside to have one.“Shilpi, you know I was like you. The silent guy in the room. If someone else was at your place he would have asked a lot of questions! ”“I think it’s better to listen Rudra, than argue. I didn’t have much idea about what they were talking and the talk was mostly concerning Varun.”“See..it’s good very good. But to be at a place like GS…you know! The world is very mean, Shilpi. You need to speak more than you do work here! Many people don’t know much but they’ll get ahead of you because they speak. I was like you when I joined GS. In the group discussion round, when everyone was debating.. I just sat at the corner. HR came and asked each of us individually. If she hadn’t done that, I mayn’t be sitting here today”I gave it some thought. He was right.Some days later feature1 stopped working. I had no idea why, I was using an excellent library for feature1, of-course an external one. Varun himself has asked me to use an external for that case since we don’t have a gs library for that.But now. It wasn’t working.It took me a week to include the library - react-bootstrap-table2 with the project along with the features it had, and use it. And some magic happened. Now feature1 stops working. Damn!I woke up the whole night - till 4 am to make the feature1 work. The remote desktop worked very slow. In GS, we are not given laptops for security purposes. So we have to use remote desktop.It was damn slow but I was patient. I kept on trying and trying till I fell asleep early in the morning. Woke up around 12.An hour before demo with Monica’s team, I told Varun about it. He said it’s fine, we will show the demo without it.Tik…tikk….I wasn’t satisfied. I worked damn hard for 45 min and was able to make feature1 work!We went to give the demo. Varun pulled out a chair and sat before a PC.“Hi Monica!”“Hey Varun!”And so it started. The demo. The UI I made. The features I implemented. The integration. My two month’s hard work.All of them was presented by our VP, Mr.Varun!“Uhm…but we don’t need feature 1 and 2, Varun. You can remove it” said Monica.W-H-A-T! What did she just say. I went an hour back in time.I am sweating. I can feel I am nervous. This has to go good. I know well about the project, and I will make the feature-1 work! I will!Yes, I did. Only to lose the presentation as well as the feature.I rushed out of the room with the unhappy face which no one bothered about in the meeting room. I was silent and in hurry, it was weekly demo too today.“Haashh.. It went great!” exclaimed Varun who barely ever talked to me. Since like 1962!“Okay, but we have a weekly demo too!”The weekly demo got cancelled. Varun proceeded to tell me how we don’t need feature-1 and all the new features which Monica wanted. I remembered them all. One of them was a feature-X which was not possible technically. I tried making Varun understand and he did, after quite a while.Then came the mid-semester exam and I finally got a break!3rd MonthI went to my home after holidays. After 2 months, 1,40,000 was credited to my account. I bought clothes for mom and dad. I was delighted and ready to go back!Came back to office happily. Compiled the code.React-bootstrap-table2 library code - gone. Whole UI code changed in a week. My 2 week’s effort - 1 week for the library and 2 nd for other features went to ashes.Just in ONE SINGLE WEEK.~Varun committed the code 2 hours ago~~Varun committed the code yesterday~~Varun….~And so on.Varun started using an internal gs-ui-library library instead of react-bootstrap-table2. Instead of giving proper review comments, he changed my code by himself. Some backend stuff also came to me.I fetched the code from repo, the one Varun had implemented. And tried to understand.“You just have to implement feature-b-xyz, no need to go through whole code” he said.Fine.I added a new feature. Compiled and checked. Everything was working fine. Committed the code.Next day I came. Compiled the code.‘EXCEPTION THROWN’‘FAILED’And my PC hangs. For no reason why.I checked the code - it was changed. The integration part was changed. Feature XYZ was changed. And it stopped working.~Varun committed the code an hour ago~Why did he commit a code that fails? I wondered.This started happening daily. I had no idea why was this happening.The next series of days started with me coming late - 11:50, 12 or later than that. I used to mail Rudra about the update. Sometimes I was able to attend standup, sometime I wasn’t able to. My health started deteriorating.Everyday, Varun used to commit some changes. And it took a hell lot of time to update the project in intellij, go through his changes and do other changes. I was pretty much frustrated.Took 2 wfhs in 2 weeks. Logged in late many times. Had to push myself from bed everyday. Devoted my time to video games than gs work. Lost interest.Then I was given some backend part. I took WFH a day I wasn’t feeling well and learnt about apis stuff. Still some part of me wanted to do well and take interest in the work genuinely.We - all 3 interns received a mail from Rudra which we could never forget. Rudra had showed his ‘Rudra’ roop. The mail said -“You guys are not taking the work seriously. WFHs are not to be taken for granted. So many WFHs and late loggings. Not at all serious about your work. You guys need to have deliverables by the end of this month.I don’t care, work for your career not mine.”I was shocked. The friendly, giggling Rudra! I remembered the first time I met him. And the mail was quite a shock to all of us.Late loggings were targeted at me.WFHs for another one.But… Tejas? What did he do?As far as I remember, he was a hard working guy. Always on time. Never missed a standup. What did he do to receive the mail?Days after that, Varun took four wfhs in a row. Rudra was quiet. Nisha only came like twice in a week, Rudra said nothing.Why us? Why the interns? I wondered.One day I stayed at office till 8pm. I could hear Rudra talking about ‘The Elegant User’s App’ over a phone call.“We are building it again since the last UI was in angular. We wanted it in React.” he said to somebody over the call.Throughout my whole intern, I had one doubt in my mind.The app on which I was working upon was already built by someone and was functional too. But my manager wanted it to be built again since he wanted us to use a new technology.What’s the difference even if angular was used? What’s the need of rebuilding the app again from scratch? I wondered.And the next words I heard shattered me.“Yeah, Varun is working with some intern on ‘The Elegant User’s App’.”What did he say?The last two months were fully devoted to the UI. I went back in time.“Shilpi, if you want any help - Varun would be able to for this project.I was made to believe that it was an independent project, which it never was. I worked my ass off for three months only to hear that I am ‘some intern’ working under Varun and helping him building the UI.I got depressed.It was Holi’s festival - the festival of colours. I never really celebrated holi, hated to be coloured all over. We had a group for our department, and I wished everyone a “Happy Holi!”.Tejas replied with a “Happy holi” too.“Happy Forest Day” - stated an image I received on whatsapp. It was from Rudra. On the whatsapp group. This was his reply for “Happy Holi”.It's okay, don't respect our festival. But atleast don't disrespect it. Why was there even a need for reply?Needless to say, I didn’t go to office that day as sign of rebel (we didn’t have holiday on holi). Varun was already doing WFH. The “Happy Forest Day” frustrated me.Why Rudra why. You are better than that.“Niharika (name changed) is leaving GS” somebody whispered.Niharika, a very smart lady was in our department. She was mentoring an intern and sounded quite knowledgeable. Her sudden decision of leaving GS came as a shock to everyone.I had a last chat with her only when everyone was away for lunch. She had refused her farewell too I guess. She came to me and we had a decent chat. I asked her the reason of leaving. She wanted to switch the team maybe but it was taking a long time. Sweet and smart is all I could say for her. She had done work with JPMC & Morgan Stanley (US) and held a green card. A dedicated worker.After the lunch, she had a long meeting with Rudra. She was too firm with her decision.After she left, someone told me she bitched about many people in the team - specially Rudra. I was really sad. GS lost a good employee that day. And maybe, due to politics.Next day, GS was having an orientation for all new campus hires. It was one hell of a day. World-class hotel stay and world-class orientation.Varun was going out to the new office for 2 weeks. For some work.4th monthBefore Varun had left for the new office, he had asked me to attend telephonic standups for our team from 3–3:30. Now I used to attend 2 standups - the department one, and the team one. Full time waste activities!He had also asked me to get details of a task from Raghav and get it completed. I messaged him and he said he will be there at my desk in 5 min. Well, he never came. I asked him 2–3 times more to which he sent me a random link. I was disheartened and had nothing to do for 2 weeks.One day Rudra called me to fix some errors which he wasn’t able to fix by himself. He said he spent the whole night trying to fix those but didn’t know how to.I came to his desk. Those were linting errors!After having 10 years of experience, and you don’t even know what they are! Even if you know, please try to google. He was not getting what those line numbers represent. I explained him everything and fixed those.Soon, we got mails from hr regarding our joining dates and NAPA training, which is held in New York. I told the HR about my case, that I have courses left in college and I won’t be able to join on 3rd june.“Can I go to the training and join later after 12th july - when my courses are done” I asked.“No, you need to join as FTE. We will process your visa in june and you’ll go during july first week”“Okay” I replied.“Try to make your college understand, it’s important” is all she said.Next day, I refused. My college will never agree for me to take 2 week vacation during summer term.Rudra received a call from HR. I knew it was regarding me.He took me outside the cabin and asked why did I opted out of NAPA training. I told him everything - how my degree would be affected. He was ready to give WFH for 2 months. I was shocked. Again.Rudra was the most unpredictable mysterious guy I ever met. He was good and bad, at the same time. 2 months is a long time - and he agreed to give me WFH! He earned my respect.Then there was second meeting with Rudra. He told me everything - the work I’ll do as an FTE. Also, he never left a single moment he could get to brag about himself.“You will be working under Varun. He will be the team lead. Your work is XYZ-AHSH-PPOS…..”“Be as mature as me. I can make complex things simple easily. Learn it from me.” he said.Varun. No!!The silent guy. Who took away all the presentations. Even during our team standups over calls, he used to answer when some guy asked me about the project. My code was changed everyday. All the torture I faced last month. And now- I’ll be working under him. Wow.I told Rudra - how my code was changed everyday, how I was not told about the changes Varun did in the backend and still expected my code would run successfully. He listened to me for a while and then said -“When I was a NAPA, I used to ensure that I get 0 review comments”“I don’t get review comments, Rudra. My code gets changed, and it’s hard to understand it everyday without help of Varun.”“It’s a good thing, right? You will learn something from what the change he does. It’s good for you.”Cool. I have to look at the new code and somehow “learn without doing”. Interesting.I worked till 9 pm that day. Before Rudra left, he smiled at me sarcastically.“Shilpi, still working?”“Yeah Rudra, I came little late today.”“Varun changing your code and you changing his code.!”“Yes. That’s what is happening.”And then, he laughed maniacally.This was not the first time he did this. He used to laugh at me sarcastically many times after giving me the UI project.Next week, Varun was here. My virtual desktop was not working and I had no idea why. Called help-desk 5 times that day.“REBOOT!”“TRY IT FROM A DIFFERENT MACHINE!”“IT SHOWS ‘AVAILABLE’ ON MY MACHINE!”was all the response I got from 5 different help-desk-assistants.Took a day off the next day. Saw a mail. Varun had given presentation to our MD that day. UI presentation, which was supposed to be given by me.Next week, same schedule. Help-desk people failed miserably.I tried remote desktop and was able to open my outlook. My inbox was full of -“DISK CAPACITY OVER 95%! CLEAN IT!”I got it. But in order to clean it, I had to login to the virtual computer which I wasn’t able to. It was a deadlock.Soon I was assigned a new virtual computer. My whole local setup - was erased.My whole enthusiasm had turned to ashes at that point. Came late, went early. Stopped attending stand-ups. Late Loggings. WFHs. OOO. No updates. No weekly updates. Nothing to do next since Raghav didn’t help. Frustrated as hell.Our department was hiring more and more people. I had nowhere to sit. No one to talk to.The only friend I had in bengaluru left 2 weeks ago.Please note that I’ve nothing against GS. The management there is really good, they care about their employees. I don’t think any company could’ve given me 2 months WFH and I do respect Rudra a lot for that!The experience may vary from person to person, someone may find GS a very good place, based on the traits he/she has or the team he is working with. But for a shy person like me, who loves to code sitting at the corner of the room - GS is not the place. It was me who was not able to adapt to the culture there.This answer was written by me when I was still an intern. I had no idea what this could do to my life.Next day after I wrote this, I was called by the Head HR of Employee Relations in GS - Devika. I thought she had called me in order to discuss why am I choosing signNow over Goldman but this wasn’t the case.“I read your answer on Quora about Goldman..”“I’ll remove it!” I replied with the speed of light.“No..I don’t want you to take it down, Just tell me the issues you had”And she pretended to listen. Both of us knew why she called me here - to take the answer down.“See, these days many people are on social media and it is affecting how people see us. Probably, some interns wouldn’t want to work with us after reading the answer. Therefore I want you to remove it”“Also, please remember this meeting is confidential. DO NOT tell anyone from your team about it!” she said just before I left.And that was it. I deleted this answer.I saw Rudra’s text on my whatsapp. He asked whether I have a desk to sit, and when will I signNow on my desk. I knew something was fishy since he never ever bothered about.I finished the work and went home.The next day, I woke up to 10 calls from the HR and lots of messages. I asked what happened.I told her I have already deleted the answer, but there was something else. I wasn’t able to login from home. My remote desktop was taken away from me and I had no idea why.And then, came Monday.13th May 2019The day started off with my phone full of Devika’s texts. She insisted that I directly come to the meeting room first instead of going to the GIR cabin.I went to her cabin where she was sitting. And soon the harassment started.“What was your motive behind putting such kind of answers on quora, tell me what was in your mind”“I am sorry, Devika. I’ve already taken them down.”“Didn’t you knew about the firm’s policy? You knew it very well right? Still you put the experience on Quora?”“I was frustrated. So much that it didn’t occur to me at that time. But yes, I knew it.”She wrote it down on a paper.“You put it on social media, and don’t expect your manager to read it? Wake up! Everyone in your dept knows what you did okay! You are always saying that ‘don’t inform my manager about it’.. you know what, infact Rudra only informed us about this. He was the one who forwarded the answer.”I sighed. He knew about it the whole time. Still acted as friendly on thursday.“You can take action against me if you want to. I can’t say anything else.”“We are a very big firm. Many people are there writing these kind of negative - one sided answers. We don’t care”If she didn’t care, why was I sitting here?“I have talked to both Rudra and Varun. Now I know about their perspectives too. Did you inform your manager that you were on leave? No, you didn’t.”“Yes, I was really depressed and woke up at 5 eve..”“You were completely one-sided in your answer. Such a judgemental answer it was! You never wrote what you did!” she exclaimed.“Devika, I did. I wrote I was depressed and was late for standups. I wrote that I took WFH and..”“That was completely in another way!” she interrupted.And then she gave me a tough look.“I have tracked down your whole information, when do you come and leave, wfh etc. I don’t think it’s too much. You were also 1 hour late on the GS event, I heard”I wasn’t. What was she saying?“No, I was a minute late. You can ask my friend who was sitting there.”“Also, you were absent on 4 presentations Varun gave, right?”I was shocked. What did she just say? I was present in 3 of them, I remembered. Now I felt something was really wrong. Varun probably gave her false information about me.“No, I was there for 3 of them” I replied in a low voice.“And you weren’t allowed to give?” She raised her eyebrows.“I didn’t ask him, neither did he offer.. he just took the chair and..Did Varun said I was absent? I wasn’t!” I defended myself.“Oh yes you weren’t, I know. When did I say you were absent? You are just misunderstanding me” she replied and wrote down some points.And now she started lying too about things she said earlier! I was shocked to the core.“They said bad things about me, didn’t they.” I asked.“No, infact they praised you for technical aspects. ‘She did all her tasks which we assigned.’ ‘Used to find solutions of the problem till the very end.’” she read it from the paper she had.But what about the other aspects? I was sure they had said something worse about me. I wondered what was that except me coming late.“GS-UI-LIBRARY!!” she exclaimed.“This is what you wrote about the library. Seriously!”I looked down. I couldn’t say anything except sorry.“Rudra even let you choose jersey for cricket match, didn’t he?”“Yes he did.” I sighed.“What you think what made your experience bad? Was it yourself? Why put it on social media, and didn’t contact us. What about the HCM?”I was late and silent. The only faults.“Does anybody in your team knows about it?” she asked hoping that nobody knows.“No, just me and the interns.” I replied.“And what did you write? Niharika left because of politics..? Did you talk to her? Who told you?” she almost shouted.“I got to know that from a teammate.” I replied in low tone.“So you will put anything you hear on social media??” she tried to overpower me.“If I were your signNow HR and I read this answer on Quora.. you know I’d have..” Devika scolded in a rude tone.She would have taken my offer back. That’s what she meant.“I have already deleted it , Devika. I said sorry, what else can I do? ” I almost cried.“These things never happened with me at signNow. But people here..”I broke down. Couldn’t speak much.“What even if you deleted? 1000s of people saw it. All the people on your floor saw it. They may have copied it, downloaded it. It had so confidential information!”“And yeah, put this conversation there too!!” She said in a very rude tone.“I won’t. You know I won’t.” I whispered.“Anyways Shilpi, now it’d be too awkward for you to go there. We have already stopped your remote access. We don’t want you to work anymore. Since you’ve already rejected the offer too, no discussion related to it. You can submit the id card to me.”“Okay.”I cried a lot in the cab. Rudra knew it all the time. Why didn’t he himself fire me instead of sending a rude HR. And those two also lied a lot about me. The tone of HR was totally different when I met her on Thursday. And today she was really harassing me.It took me a while to understand - all this was planned by Rudra. He choose the rudest and senior-most HR to deal with my case and harass me, just to get back at me.2 interns were joining today and space was very less in the small GIR cabin. And he knew very well I completed all my work the last week itself. Win-Win situation for Rudra!Varun and Rudra lied to HR. It was evident from the way she treated me. I was made to be feel like a garbage - just because I was late at the office!I cried for an hour. And then, I edited and restored this answer.Next day I came to know none of the interns or people in my team knew about this! I was fired secretly. The HR lied the whole time.All because Rudra didn’t want to see my face in GIR!Do I fear them? Not at all.“I will survive, Tracy thought. I face mine enemies naked, and my courage is my shield.” ― Sidney Sheldon (if tomorrow comes)Many people want me to take this answer down or go anonymous. I have done nothing wrong. Those who have, they should hide their faces behind “anonymous” mask.If GS has some problem with the answer, they are free to take action against me. I am not bonded by any legal agreement and atleast deserved decent exit process.
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Attention doctors, how do I know if a mole is cancerous? See the image included.
Most cancers have some pretty obvious signs; lumps and bumps, tenderness, pain or sickness. But when it comes to the symptoms of skin cancer, they aren’t always as plain to see. Skin cancer is slow growing and often free of glaring warning signs. That can make early detection tricky.But don't worry because there are a few things that you can keep an eye out for when it comes to skin cancer. These indicators let you know if a trip to the doctor might be a good idea.In no way do these signs and symptoms automatically mean cancer – but it’s always good to check things out if you have suspicions.In addition to the information on this page, you should get the SkinVision app here as a supportive tool, to check the spots you worry about and receive an instant risk indication.Melanoma vs. Non-Melanoma Skin CancerBefore we get started, it’s important to note that there is a distinction between melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancer. While melanoma is the most widely known and aggressive form of skin cancer, it’s actually the rarest type. Non-melanoma skin cancers, such as squamous cell carcinoma and basal cell carcinoma, are the most common forms of skin cancer. Melanoma begins in melanocytes cells in the deepest layer of skin, also known as the hypodermic or subcutaneous tissue, while non-melanoma cancers are found in the upper and middle layers of skin, called the epidermis and dermis, respectively.Melanoma is considered the most dangerous form of skin cancer as it typically will spread to other areas of the body, including organs. Non-melanoma skin cancers are generally considered less dangerous as they are less likely to spread and can usually be treated with a simple surgery. Both types of cancer can occur anywhere on the body but non-melanoma skin cancers are more likely to occur on areas of the body that are regularly exposed to the sun as opposed to more covered areas like inside your mouth.How to tell the difference: what's normal?Now that we know the different types, how can we tell them apart on our skin? Below we'll outline the main signs to look for in each type of skin cancer, but the general rule of thumb for detection follows the same principle: understand what’s normal for your skin.Knowing what is normal can help you see what isn’t. Paying attention to all of the spots, moles and lesions on your body gives you a control to compare to when you think something may be changing.Melanoma signs and symptomsMelanoma appears on the skin as a new spot or growth or a change in an already existing mole.A normal mole will be even in color, quite small and will have appeared during the early part of your life. Most importantly, a normal mole will arrive and stay – exactly the same. It won't change and it won't evolve. That is what really makes it normal.Know your ABCDEsDermatologists classify melanoma using the ABCDE method. This method shows you which signs to look out for when detecting melanoma.The Melanoma Research Foundation provides a handy overview of the method you can reference when performing skin checks:A - Asymmetrical ShapeMelanoma lesions are often irregular, or not symmetrical, in shape. Benign moles are usually symmetrical.B - BorderTypically, non-cancerous moles have smooth, even borders. Melanoma lesions usually have irregular borders that are difficult to define.C - ColorThe presence of more than one color (blue, black, brown, tan, etc.) or the uneven distribution of color can sometimes be a warning sign of melanoma. Benign moles are usually a single shade of brown or tan.D - DiameterMelanoma lesions are often greater than 6 millimeters in diameter (approximately the size of a pencil eraser).E - EvolutionThe evolution of your mole(s) has become the most important factor to consider when it comes to diagnosing a melanoma. Knowing what is normal for YOU could save your life. If a mole has gone through recent changes in color and/or size, bring it to the attention of a dermatologist immediately.If you notice one or more of these symptoms, contact a dermatologist immediately.Something just looks a little oddYour skin is always changing – in fact your skin replaces itself all the time. So if you see something on your skin that doesn't go away over the course of a month or so that means it sits in the lower layers of skin. These weird skin abnormalities should be checked out - they could be melanoma symptoms.It is even better if you can keep track of the size and shape of your moles so that you will be able to show your doctor a timeline to help with diagnosis. Our skin cancer app is ideal for this.Your mole is acting strangeWe all have moles on our skin, and in almost all cases, our moles are a normal reaction to sun exposure and are not dangerous. But if your mole is taking on some strange characteristics, the time has come for a second opinion. To recap, see your doctor if your mole:• develops a crust or a scab• sometimes bleeds• is itchy• feels tender• is getting bigger or swelling• is strangely shaped (ie. not round)• has borders that are irregular• includes lots of different colors or shades• is bigger than the size of a pencil eraser in diameter• has appeared recently (ie. when you are an adult)Non-melanoma skin cancer signs and symptomsWhile melanoma is the most dangerous form of skin cancer, it is still important to pay attention to non-melanoma skin cancers and understand the forms they can take.According to the UK National Health Service; “The main symptom of non-melanoma skin cancer is the appearance of a lump or discolored patch on the skin that doesn’t heal.” The two most common types of non-melanoma skin cancer are basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma. Find out how to identify these types below.Basal cell carcinoma signs and symptomsBasal cell carcinoma presents itself in several forms. While it rarely spreads to other areas of the body or vital organs, it can cause disfigurement if left untreated.It most often appears as:• a hard pearly, waxy looking lump with visible blood cells• a red and scaly, irritated patch that can grow quite large on the chest or back• an open sore that bleeds or becomes crusty• a white, scar-like lesion (this form is more rare)• a pink growth with a slight indentation in the centerIf you notice any of the above symptoms, see a doctor so they can examine it more thoroughly.Squamous cell carcinoma signs and symptomsLike basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma is usually caused by repeat sun-exposure over time. This is a slow-developing skin cancer that can spread to other areas of the skin, although it’s still considered uncommon to spread widely.Squamous cell carcinoma normally takes the form of:• wart-like bumps that often have crusted surfaces• rough scaly patches that may bleed• an open sore that bleeds or develops a crust• red, dome-like nodulesBowen’s disease, also known as “squamous cell carcinoma in situ” is an early form of squamous cell carcinoma. It usually appears as a red, itchy scaly patch that can often be confused for psoriasis or eczema. It is easily treated, but if left undiagnosed can pose a risk.Other non-melanoma skin cancer symptomsLess frequently occurring non-melanoma skin cancers include keratoacanthomas, Merkel cell carcinoma, cutaneous lymphomas, Kaposi sarcoma, skin adnexal tumors and sarcomas. These rare forms of cancer are treated differently than other forms of skin cancer and symptoms vary depending on the cell where the cancer began. Many of the symptoms and methods of detection will overlap with the other forms of skin cancer discussed above, only a doctor will be able to give you a firm diagnosis.Bottom line – is your skin changing?Being aware of your skin is probably the single most important thing you can do when it comes to detecting skin cancer symptoms early. So be sure to look out for changes in your moles, things popping up or growing on your skin or any change in sensation that might indicate a problem. If you notice any of the above symptoms of skin cancer that persist for four weeks, visit your doctor. There's a good chance it is nothing – but why put it off?When it comes to your health and skin cancer, it's a good idea to be proactive and keep an eye out for dangerous moles. Moles can be linked to skin cancer. This is especially true if you have a family history of skin cancer linked to moles.In addition to limiting your exposure to sunlight and using sunscreens, examining yourself for moles can help with early detection of melanoma (the deadliest type of skin cancer) and treatment.Skin Cancer Screening ScheduleIf you have developed new moles, or a close relative has a history of melanoma, you should examine your body once a month. Most moles are benign (non-cancerous). Moles that are of greater medical concern include those that look different than other existing moles or those that first appear in adulthood.If you notice changes in a mole's color or appearance, you should have a dermatologist evaluate it. You also should have moles checked if they bleed, ooze, itch, appear scaly, or become tender or painful.What Should I Look for When Examining My Moles?Examine your skin with a mirror. Pay close attention to areas of your skin that are often exposed to the sun, such as the hands, arms, chest, and head.The following ABCDEs are important signs of moles that could be skin cancer. If a mole displays any of the signs listed below, have it checked immediately by a dermatologist:Asymmetry: One half of the mole does not match the other halfBorder: The border or edges of the mole are ragged, blurred, or irregularColor: The mole has different colors or it has shades of tan, brown, black, blue, white, or redDiameter: The diameter of the mole is larger than the eraser of a pencilEvolving: The mole appears different from others and/or changing in size, color, shapeKeep in mind that some melanomas may be smaller or not fit other characteristics. You should always be suspicious of a new mole. If you do notice a new mole, see your dermatologist as soon as possible. He or she will examine the mole and take a skin biopsy (if appropriate). If it's skin cancer, a biopsy can show how deeply it has penetrated the skin. Your dermatologist needs this information to decide how to treat the mole.The most common location for melanoma in men is the back; in women, it is the lower leg.Tips to Consider for Skin Cancer ScreeningKeep these tips in mind when screening your moles for skin cancer:Use a full-length mirror if you have one. Start at your head and work your way down, looking at all the areas of your body (including the front, backs, and sides of each area, and your fingernails and toenails). Also be sure to check the "hidden" areas: between your fingers and toes, the groin, the soles of your feet, and the backs of your knees. Don't forget to thoroughly check your scalp and neck for moles. Use a handheld mirror or ask a family member to help you look at these areas.Keep track of all the moles on your body and what they look like. Take a photo and date it to help you monitor them. This way, you'll notice if the moles change. If they do change in any way (in color, shape, size, border, etc.) or exhibit other ABCDE features, see your doctor. Also, if you have any new moles that you think look suspicious, see your doctor.here link for referenceWhat Does Melanoma Look Like?10 Signs that Mole May Be Cancerous
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Should I choose signNow or Goldman Sachs (India)?
The answer is gonna be really long. Grab some snacks as it could take a while.After interning at both signNow and Goldman, without a blink of an eye I can say - choose signNow.Going back a year before, my answer was different. Probably because I was unaware of how Goldman would turn out to be.I was the happiest person the day I was selected as an FTE at GS - a reputed fin-tech company which mostly hires tier-1 students, a dream for many. I had heard from many people that GS offers package as high as 32lpa which was quite a big deal for me - or for anyone who might have been at my place.As for signNow, I wanted a PPO since I really worked my ass off there - and was given one 6 days after I got offer from GS. I couldn’t be any happier.Soon came the phase of deciding - what should I choose? I didn’t know about the salary of GS but I had an idea that it definitely pays more than signNow. And that was enough for me - a reputed firm with lots of money!Then came the HR’s call. She offered me semester long internship in GS! I was glad that I don’t have to spend my last semester in college and will also earn some money. With the stipend as high as 75k and stay at Hilton hotel during intern, anybody is likely to go crazy and say “YES”.And so I did.I decided to take my decision after completing the semester long internship there, whether to go with signNow or continue with Goldman.The beginningSoon came 7th January. Day started off with amazing orientation and a beautiful office visit. Then came the lunch buddy - GS assigns a buddy from your department to have lunch with you the day you join, let’s say he was Raghav (name changed).Raghav seemed to be a really smart guy. I asked him a few questions about GS being a fin-tech, is it easy to switch and other questions. He seemed to be out of place, not interested. A guy came who was an intern in a team in which Raghav used to work. He kept talking and giggling with him, completely ignoring my presence. Cool, maybe Raghav is a badass - who cares?Met with my manager and two other interns who were in the same department - ZIR(changed). He seemed like a chilled-out and thoughtful person. Let’s call him Rudra.Our whole department used to sit in a middle sized cabin which accommodated around 32–35 employees of ZIR. My happiness knew no bounds! Great team, small cabin and friendly manager - what else could I ask for?Then came the next day. We were introduced to our team and had a lunch together. Oh no! Lunch here was not free - no big deal. Only 80rs/- per plate is affordable when you earn 75k per month, I thought.After having lunch, we began installing softwares required. Wait, you can’t install some softwares without manager’s permission. Fine! I messaged my manager and he granted the permission. He came later in the evening and gave 3 of us an interesting machine learning problem to solve - in a week, till we get our projects.He had three projects in mind, and he left it for us to decide which one we wan’t to take. I took the one which I thought was more impactful and cool, also because we had a member of our team working for the project. My task was to integrate the backend stuff he wrote with the UI I was going to create. Also to help him with some of those backend stuffs later on.“You can take help from Varun, in case you need” said Rudra.So it began!1st MonthI started learning React.js for the UI I was going to implement from various websites. There were tons of tutorial there. After understanding some theory, I clicked on ‘try it on codepen’ - online editor.“You are restricted from using an external website - no permissions”What? I can’t even use some online editor. Okay that’s fine - we have pretty sensitive data in GS. Since it’s a finance based company, we have client data with us and user may copy and paste it online - someone might steal the data! All this made sense. ‘It’s fine, I’ll bring my own laptop tommorow’, I thought before leaving.I could see two teammates standing behind me from my peripheral vision. One who was writing the backend stuff for the project I was working upon, let’s call him Varun.Varun was a silent and sober guy - a hardworking one who speaks only when required. Another guy standing beside him was Raghav.“Hey!” I said in a low tone. Did I do some crime? Why are these two here.. I wondered.“You brought your personal laptop, is everything fine here?” they asked.I told them about the restrictions. Raghav took my work PC and sent Rudra, my manager a request to approve codepen.I waited. One hour. Two hours. Codepen still not working. Fine for me since I have my own laptop. No worries.After 2 weeks Varun called me and started assigning tasks to do for the UI. I was full of enthusiasm and paid full attention to what he wanted. I started looking out for the cool libraries out there and found - material-ui.‘Perfect!’ I exclaimed.Started with the tasks, and was able to achieve the target next evening. It looked damn good! Varun will be happy. And so, I showed it to him.“Okay, font-size is a bit huge. And please change the app’s name - ELEGANT USER’S APP” (name changed). And so I did.“E-L-E-G-E-N-T U-S-E-R—S A-P-P”What a funny name, I thought. (The real one was funnier than the changed one)So days went, 1..2…3 and I completed 5–6 tasks. The basic UI (20%) was done. Then came Varun -“Shilpi, you did this using which library?”“Material-ui! It’s really good and..”“Okay, but make sure you can use it. Only specific libraries can be used at GS. Search xyz site and ensure if we can use it. If yes, proceed. Else use GS UI library”What did he just say. I worked on the UI for 2 weeks, and he is telling me now that I may not be able to use the material-ui library! No way..With my heart beating fast, I typed..X…Y….Z….gs..comCtrl+F“M-A——T-E—-R—I—A”Boom! It’s there. I was delighted :)The next day I was late. I saw a message pop up. It was from Raghav.“Hey” it said.“Hey” I replied.’“Please try to attend the daily standup. If you do, mail Rudra about your update :)” He replied.There hasn’t been a single day I was late. But okay, FINE.Then came the 5th day - friday. I got a message from Varun.‘Hi Shilpi, can you make another UI using GS-UI?’OH NO!. Again?.‘Just for the feel…we’ll show it to Rudra next week, he’ll choose which one we can use’*Slow Claps*. Well played Varun. Why did he approve the material-ui one if he wanted it in GS-UI - I wondered.It’s fine, I can do it. I encouraged myself and went to the internal site - gs-ui-library. (name changed)Okay, fine. This looks good. Okay. Cool. Documentation.. documentation….uhmm.I searched for the whole day, no documentation. Just few codes and examples to understand how to display some component.Way uglier than material-ui - I thought. And a minute later, an evil idea came to my mind..“What if I make the UI using gs-ui-library so ugly that Rudra and Varun both reject!” That would be great!The next week on friday, I was done with gs-ui-library. My code was asked to be removed from codesandbox by Varun - it’s illegal to put GS’s internal code there. I could hear Rudra laughing about how he is afraid of the interns bringing personal laptops here, and what will happen if someone names a variable as “ZIR” and put it on github.I showed Rudra the material-ui one. He was impressed.“This looks good! But don’t keep the name as ‘ ELEGANT USERS APP’, instead keep it as ‘THE USERS SEARCH APP’ ” (name changed)“But Rudra, Varun has asked me to..”“I will ask him. We will decide and tell you”Fine. Keep the name as ‘The bla bla app”. I don’t care.Varun was already gone by the time. I smirked. I won’t show the UI I made using gs-ui-library to Rudra!Next day Varun was on my desk. He asked whether I showed both the UI’s.“No, actually I forgot to show the other..”“See, the people above us will probably ask why we didn’t use GS-UI. That’s why I am saying so. I have no problem with material-ui. Just ask Rudra if he is fine with it. Rudra…”“Yes, Varun” replied Rudra.And then he showed both the UI’s to him. The ugly one. The good one.“I think it looks great - the ‘gs-ui-library’ one!” Rudra exclaimed.I shouted in my mind - “How can he..!”“See Shilpi, we don’t have any problem using material-ui one but the people for whom we are making the app will ask why we didn’t use the internal-gs library. Okay, tell me one thing - it does have all the components you require, right?”“Yes, Rudra” I sighed.“Seems like Shilpi wanted to use material-ui, haha” Rudra giggled and looked at Varun. I could hear the giggling from one of the two interns from behind - Tejas (name changed).He was also working on a UI, along with some backend stuff. He was using ‘gs-ui-library’ from day one. And so, he giggled.Rudra -1 .. Shilpi- 0This was the first time I went home feeling sad. Why didn’t they tell me 2 weeks ago? Now I will have to work on the other one. And the library has no documentation.“g-s-u-i-l-i-b-r-a-r-y” I typed.Gs-ui-library was a really terrible library. No documentation, made by mixture of other available libraries online. It was like an accidental product of some cross-breeding. A scientific failure.Anyways, I somehow learnt basic features which I could implement using the library. On the other hand, my machine was damn slow - for a reason I didn’t know.“Why are you using vs code? How did you get it!” asked Rudra who saw me coding on vscode.“I like it- it’s really good for react. Installed it from the store.”“Haha, use intellij, okay!” Rudra said in a serious tone.Wow. After making me work with the gs-ui-library, now he is snatching away the editor I love. Cool.I still continued with vs code. Varun was totally fine with it.I went to drink a glass of water. Didn’t bring my bottle that day. So took a ‘visitor’s cup’ from inside the drawers.“Ma’am, you can’t drink in that. It’s only for visitors” said a guy who saw I was about to drink water.“Oh, it’s ok for today you can use it..Ma’am”Great. Block websites - facebook, gmail, codepen. Take my material-ui away. Don’t allow me to use vs-code. And also, don’t let me drink water at peace!I was pissed off. Huh!2nd MonthWe were having a cricket match on saturday! Rudra asked me if I want to play - since he wanted a female player as per the rules. He just wanted me to throw the ball for an over or so since it was the rule. I agreed - afterall he was my manager.I came back home, exhausted. Wasn’t allowed to bat :( even when the guy players were noob too. Whatever, I don’t care. I said to myself.So I started working on the integration part. Meanwhile we used to have meetings in which we were told about ZIR and it’s functions. Rudra used to tell us about how fun the NAPA training is going to be, and how we will start hiding our id cards after the event.I completed the integration part in a week or so. Gave a weekly demo to Rudra.Next week was going to be a demo with Monica’s team (name changed). The finance guys for whom we were building the ‘ELEGANT USERS APP’. Varun was happy that I had completed the integration part and added 2 more features to implement.- feature1 & feature2Before the demo, we had a meeting with Monica just a week before. Rudra, Varun and I gathered in a room. Varun and Monica proceeded on what she wants and what actually we have. It was a debate between them and I listened.Since the lunch time was over, Rudra and I went to the food-court outside to have one.“Shilpi, you know I was like you. The silent guy in the room. If someone else was at your place he would have asked a lot of questions! ”“I think it’s better to listen Rudra, than argue. I didn’t have much idea about what they were talking and the talk was mostly concerning Varun.”“See..it’s good very good. But to be at a place like GS…you know! The world is very mean,Shilpi. You need to speak more than you do work here! Many people don’t know much but they’ll get ahead of you because they speak. I was like you when I joined GS. In the group discussion round, when everyone was debating.. I just sat at the corner. HR came and asked each of us individually. If she hadn’t done that, I mayn’t be sitting here today”I gave it some thought. He was right.Some days later feature1 stopped working. I had no idea why, I was using an excellent library for feature1, off-course an external one. Varun himself has asked me to use an external for that case since we don’t have a gs library for that.But now. It wasn’t working.It took me a week to include the library - react-bootstrap-table2 with the project along with the features it had, and use it. And some magic happened. Now feature1 stops working. Damn!I woke up the whole night - till 4 am to make the feature1 work. The remote desktop worked very slow. In GS, we are not given laptops for security purposes. So we have to use remote desktop.It was damn slow but I was patient. I kept on trying and trying till I fell asleep early in the morning. Woke up around 12.An hour before demo with Monica’s team, I told Varun about it. He said it’s fine, we will show the demo without it.Tik…tikk….I wasn’t satisfied. I worked damn hard for 45 min and was able to make feature1 work!We went to give the demo. Varun pulled out a chair and sat before a PC.“Hi Monica!”“Hey Varun!”And so it started. The demo. The UI I made. The features I implemented. The integration. My two month’s hard work.All of them was presented by our VP, Mr.Varun!“Uhm…but we don’t need feature 1 and 2, Varun. You can remove it” said Monica.W-H-A-T! What did she just say. I went an hour back in time.I am sweating. I can feel I am nervous. This has to go good. I know well about the project, and I will make the feature-1 work! I will!Yes, I did. Only to loose the presentation as well as the feature.I rushed out of the room with the unhappy face which no one bothered about in the meeting room. I was silent and in hurry, it was weekly demo too today.“Haashh.. It went great!” exclaimed Varun who barely ever talked to me. Since like 1962!“Okay, but we have a weekly demo too!”The weekly demo got cancelled. Varun proceeded to tell me how we don’t need feature-1 and all the new features which Monica wanted. I remembered them all. One of them was a feature-X which was not possible technically. I tried making Varun understand and he did, after quite a while.Then came the mid-semester exam and I finally got a break!3rd MonthI went to my home after holidays. After 2 months, 1,40,000 was credited to my account. I buyed clothes for mom and dad. I was delighted and ready to go back!Meanwhile, an acquaintance of mine who did intern at signNow called me. She also had an offer from both the companies but was unable to decide. I told her all pros and cons, and how I was going to join GS. Being a Delhite, she wanted to join signNow.After a while, I thought. I should maybe negotiate!It was a disaster. The HR told me clearly that they pay all the FTE’s equally regardless of how many offers they had. I asked him about the work I’d be given but he didn’t tell.After 8 days, I refused. Probably the biggest mistake I did.Came back to office happily. Compiled the code.React-bootstrap-table2 library code - gone. Whole UI code changed in a week. My 2 week’s effort - 1 week for the library and 2 nd for other features went to ashes.Just in ONE SINGLE WEEK.~Varun committed the code 2 hours ago~~Varun committed the code yesterday~~Varun….~And so on.Varun started using an internal gs-ui-library library instead of react-bootstrap-table2. Instead of giving proper review comments, he changed my code by himself. Some backend stuff also came to me.I fetched the code from repo, the one Varun had implemented. And tried to understand.“You just have to implement feature-b-xyz, no need to go through whole code” he said.Fine.The next series of days started with me coming late - 11:50, 12 or later than that. I used to mail Rudra about the update. Sometimes I was able to attend standup, sometime I wasn’t able to. My health started detoriating.Everyday, Varun used to commit some changes. And it took a hell lot of time to update the project in intellij, go through his changes and do other changes. I was pretty much frustrated.Took 2 wfhs in 2 weeks. Logged in late many times. Had to push myself from bed everyday. Devoted my time to video games than gs work. Lost interest.Then I was given some backend part. I took WFH a day I wasn’t feeling well and learnt about apis stuff. Still some part of me wanted to do well and take interest in the work genuinely.We - all 3 interns received a mail from Rudra which we could never forget. Rudra had showed his ‘Rudra’ roop. The mail said -“You guys are not taking the work seriously. WFHs are not to be taken for granted. So many WFHs and late loggings. Not at all serious about your work. You guys need to have deliverables by the end of this month.I don’t care, work for your career not mine.”I was shocked. The friendly, giggling Rudra! I remembered the first time I met him. And the mail was quite a shock to all of us.Late loggings & WFHs were targeted at me.But… Tejas? What did he do?As far as I remember, he was a hard working guy. Always on time. Never missed a standup. What did he do to receive the mail?Days after that, Varun took 4WFHs in a row. Rudra was quiet. Nisha only came like twice in a week, Rudra said nothing. Why us? Why the interns? I wondered.One day I stayed at office till 8pm. I could hear Rudra talking about ‘The Elegant User’s App’ over a phone call.“We are building it again since the last UI was in angular. We wanted it in React.” he said to somebody over the call.Throughout my whole intern, I had one doubt in my mind.The app on which I was working upon was already built by someone and was functional too. But my manager wanted it to be built again since he wanted us to use a new technology.What’s the difference even if angular was used? What’s the need of rebuilding the app again from scratch? I wondered.And the next words I heard shattered me.“Yeah, Varun is working with some intern on ‘The Elegant User’s App’.”What did he say?The last two months were fully devoted to the UI. I went back in time.“Shilpi, if you want any help - Varun would be able to for this project.I was made to believe that it was an independent project, which it never was. I worked my ass off for three months only to hear that I am ‘some intern’ working under Varun and helping him building the UI.I got depressed.It was Holi’s festival - the festival of colours. I never really celebrated holi, hated to be coloured all over. We had a group for our department, and I wished everyone a “Happy Holi!”.Tejas replied with a “Happy holi” too.“Happy Forest Day” - stated an image I received on whatsapp. It was from Rudra. On the whatsapp group. This was his reply for “Happy Holi”.Needless to say, I didn’t go to office that day as sign of rebel ( we didn’t have holiday on holi). Varun was already doing WFH. The “Happy Forest Day” frustrated me. Why Rudra why. You are better than that.“Niharika (name changed) is leaving GS” somebody whisphered.Niharika, a very smart lady was in our department. She was mentoring an intern and sounded quite knowledgable. Her sudden decision of leaving GS came as a shock to everyone.I had a last chat with her only when everyone was away for lunch. She had refused her farewell too I guess. She came to me and we had a decent chat. I asked her the reason of leaving. She wanted to switch the team maybe but it was taking a long time. Sweet and smart is all I could say for her. She had done work with JPMC & Morgan Stanely (US) and held a green card. A dedicated worker.After the lunch, she had a long meeting with Rudra. She was too firm with her decision.After she left, someone told me she bitched about many people in the team - specially Rudra. I was really sad. GS lost a good employee that day. And maybe, due to politics.Next day, GS was having an orientation for all new campus hires. It was one hell of a day. World-class hotel stay and world-class orientation.Varun was going out to the new office for 2 weeks. For some work.4th monthBefore Varun had left for the new office, he had asked me to attend telephonic standups for our team from 3–3:30. Now I used to attend 2 standups - the department one, and the team one. Full time waste activities!He had also asked me to get details of a task from Raghav and get it completed. I messaged him and he said he will be there at my desk in 5 min. Well, he never came. I asked him 2–3 times more to which he sent me a random link. I was disheartened and had nothing to do for 2 weeks.I mailed the tpo of my college, he was ready to talk to signNow’s HR and get my offer back. I was relieved.Soon, we got mails from hr regarding our joining dates and NAPA training, which is held in New York. I told the HR about my case, that I have courses left in college and I won’t be able to join on 3rd june.“Can I go to the training and join later after 12th july - when my courses are done” I asked.“No, you need to join as FTE. We will process your visa in june and you’ll go during july first week”“Okay” I replied.“Try to make your college understand, it’s important” is all she said.Next day, I refused. My college will never agree for me to take 2 week vacation during summer term.Rudra received a call from HR. I knew it was regarding me.He took me outside the cabin and asked why did I opted out of NAPA training. I told him everything - how my degree would be affected. He was ready to give WFH for 2 months. I was shocked. Again.What will I do now! Rudra was the most unpredictable mysterious guy I ever met. He was good and bad, at the same time. 2 months is a long time - and he agreed to give me WFH! He earned my respect.Now I was in dilemma. signNow. GS. signNow. GS.What to do?On the other hand, I made my tpo talk to signNow’s HR. And now, Rudra is turning to be a nice guy. I will choose GS. I was firm this time.Then there was second meeting with Rudra. He told me everything - the work I’ll do as an FTE. Also, he never left a single moment he could get to brag about himself.“You will be working under Varun. He will be the team lead. Your work is XYZ-AHSH-PPOS…..”“Be as mature as me. I can make complex things simple easily. Learn it from me.” he said.Varun. No!!The simple guy. Who took away all the presentations. Even during our team standups, he used to answer when some guy asked me about the project. My code was changed everyday. All the torture I faced last month. And now- I’ll be working under him. Wow.I told Rudra - how my code was changed everyday, how I was not told about the changes Varun did in the backend and still expected my code would run successfully. He listened to me for a while and then said -“When I was a NAPA, I used to ensure that I get 0 review comments”“I don’t get review comments, Rudra. My code gets changed, and it’s hard to understand it everyday without help of Varun.”“It’s a good thing, right? You will learn something from what the change he does. It’s good for you.”Cool. I have to look at the new code and somehow “learn without doing”. Interesting.I worked till 9 pm that day. Before Rudra left, he smiled at me sarcastically.“Shilpi, still working?”“Yeah Rudra, I came little late today.”“Varun changing your code and you changing his code.!”“Yes. That’s what is happening.”And then, he laughed maniacally.This was not the first time he did this. He used to laugh at me sarcastically many times after giving me the UI project.Next week, Varun was here. My virtual desktop was not working and I had no idea why. Called help-desk 5 times that day.“REBOOT!”“TRY IT FROM A DIFFERENT MACHINE!”“IT SHOWS ‘AVAILABLE’ ON MY MACHINE!”was all the response I got from 5 different help-desk-assistants.Took a day off the next day. Saw a mail. Varun had given presentation to our MD that day. UI presentation, which was supposed to be given by me.Next week, same schedule. Help-desk people failed miserably.I tried remote desktop and was able to open my outlook. My inbox was full of -“DISK CAPACITY OVER 95%! CLEAN IT!”I got it. But in order to clean it, I had to login to the virtual computer which I wasn’t able to. It was a deadlock.Soon I was assigned a new virtual computer. My whole local setup - was erased.My whole enthusiasm had turned to ashes at that point. Came late, went early. Stopped attending standups. Late Loggings. WFHs. OOO. No updates. No weekly updates. Nothing to do next since Raghav didn’t help. Frustrated as hell.Our department was hiring more and more people. I had nowhere to sit. No one to talk to. The only friend I had in bangalore left 2 weeks ago.And then came end-term exams.5th monthStill no mail from signNow. What do I do.I mailed the HR.I don’t care about my ego now. I just can’t work like this. A place where I am depressed everyday.And I got a positive response.I’ll be joining signNow in july. I don’t care about NAPA training. I just don’t.I am happy with less base salary.Why did I write the whole story? What’s the point of writing the whole experience when I could have just compared both the companies?Because I wanted you to feel the way I felt at each moment during my intern, why did I take the decision I took. Why did I take a rejected offer back.From my story you are well aware that -GS is a company for people who are confident, who may lack in technical terms but if they speak about their work just like Rudra told me, they will be successful in long run. You can’t sit at a corner desk everyday without networking and grow in GS but you can, at signNow. One of the main reasons of me leaving.Tejas was working on unapproved project. The project may not be approved by the MD and his struggle for 4 months could turn to ashes. This could never happen in a tech company like signNow where we have approved projects.Forget free food, they don’t even provide glasses to drink coffee/water. On the other hand, signNow has free food and glasses too.People focus on deliverables, no learning in my case. During my intern at signNow, more focus was on learning.You won’t receive appreciation. Tejas worked his ass off only to get scoldings from Rudra. While at signNow, I was really appreciated for the work I did by both - my mentor & manager.People focus on stupidest things - “ELEGANT USERS APP” v/s “THE USERS SEARCH APP” is more important here. Whereas at signNow people devote their time to efficiency and readability.Meetings, meetings and more meetings! A signNow part of the day goes in meetings at GS. Not the case in signNow, they respect developer’s time.Strats position -32lpa. Tech analyst-22lpa. No more words! At signNow, we get equal salary - 22lpa as fresher no matter whether we are an iitian or not.Varun, a person totally noob in react used to review my code. Sometimes it was really hard to make him understand. Never happened at signNow where my mentor knew Javascript & C++ in depth.No help from peers - everyone busy in their own world. Raghav was the smartest person in my team. He could’ve helped me but he didn’t. Never happened with me in signNow - people were more approachable and ever-ready to help.Features changing - worked my ass off on feature1 only to get it removed later on. Only if Monica had told earlier she doesn’t want one. In signNow, it rarely happened that a feature which we don’t need is implemented.Too much into internal code - “use gs-ui-library” “use intellij”. I want freedom. Which is there at signNow.Restrictions - can’t do much without manager’s permission. Not the case at signNow.No recognition - all the work I did was presented by Varun at last. While at signNow, I gave 2 badass presentations and was much appreciated by manager.Blocked sites - gmail, facebook and some coding sites are blocked.The only pros were - less working hours & luxurious hotel stay. And of course the huge stipend of 75k!Please note that I’ve nothing against GS. The management there is really good, they care about their employees. I don’t think any company could’ve given me 2 months WFH and I do respect Rudra a lot for that!The experience may vary from person to person, someone may find GS a very good place, based on the traits he/she has or the team he is working with. But for a shy person like me, who loves to code sitting at the corner of the room - GS is not the place. It was me who was not able to adapt to the culture there. The reason being - having a previous internship experience at signNow, which taught me what freedom is. If I didn’t have any previous experience, maybe I could’ve adjusted there assuming - “This is how it is everywhere, and this is how it works!”Irony is, the question was asked by me about a year ago. And today, I have appropriate answer to it!This answer was written by me when I was still an intern. I had no idea what this could do to my life.Next day after I wrote this, I was called by the Vice-president HR of GS - Devika. I thought she had called me in order to discuss why am I choosing signNow over Goldman but this wasn’t the case.“I read your answer on quora about goldman..”“I’ll remove it!” I replied with the speed of light.“No..I don’t want you to take it down, Just tell me the issues you had”And she pretended to listen. Both of us knew why she called me here - to take the answer down.“See, these days many people are on social media and it is affecting how people see us. Probably, some interns wouldn’t want to work with us after reading the answer. Therefore I want you to remove it”“Also, please remember this meeting is confidential. DO NOT tell anyone from your team about it!” she said just before I left.And that was it. I deleted this answer.I saw Rudra’s text on my whatsapp. He asked whether I have a desk to sit, and when will I signNow on my desk.I finished the work and went home.The next day, I woke up to 10 calls from the HR and lots of messages. I asked what happened.I told her I have already deleted the answer, but there was something else. I wasn’t able to login from home. My remote desktop was taken away from me and I had no idea why.And then, came Monday.I went to her cabin where she was sitting. And soon the harassment started.“What was your motive behind putting such kind of answers on quora, tell me what was in your mind”“I am sorry, Devika. I’ve already taken them down.”“Didn’t you knew about the firm’s policy? You knew it very well right? Still you put the experience on quora?”“I was frustrated. So much that it didn’t occur to me at that time. But yes, I knew it.”She wrote it down on a paper.“You put it on social media, and don’t expect your manager to read it? Wake up! Everyone in your dept knows what you did okay! You are always saying that ‘don’t inform my manager about it’.. you know what, infact Rudra only told me about this. He was the one who forwarded the answer.”I sighed. He knew about it the whole time. Still acted as friendly.“We are a very big firm. Many people are there writing these kind of negative - one sided answers. We don’t care”If she didn’t care, why was I sitting here.“I have talked to both Rudra and Varun. Now I know about their perspectives too. Did you inform your manager that you were on leave? No, you didn’t.”“Yes, I was really depressed and woke up at 5 eve..”“And what did you wrote? Niharika left because of politics..? Did you talk to her? Who told you?”“The intern who knew her told me”“And you put it on social media??”She gave me a tough look.“I have tracked down your whole information, when do you come and leave, wfh etc. I don’t think it’s too much. You were also 1 hour late on the GS event, I heard”I wasn’t. What was she saying?“No, I was a minute late. You can ask my friend who was sitting there.”“Also, you were absent on 4 presentations Varun gave, right?”“No, I was there for 3 of them”“And you weren’t allowed to give?”“I didn’t ask him, neither did he offer.. he just took the chair and..Did Varun said I was absent? I wasn’t!”“Oh yes you weren’t, I know. When did I say you were absent? You are just misunderstanding me” she replied and wrote down some points.“GS-UI-LIBRARY!!” she excalimed.“This is what you wrote about the library.Seriously!”I looked down. I couldn’t say anything except sorry.“You didn’t write about any wrong you did, completely one-sided answer. I got to know about other people’s perspective after talking to them.”“Yes I was late sometimes, and didn’t confront anyone.”“Rudra even let you choose jersey for cricket match, didn’t he”“Yes he did.”“What you think what made your experience bad? Was it yourself? Why put it on social media, and didn’t contact us”I was late and silent. The only faults.“If I were your signNow HR and I read this answer on quora.. you know I’d have..” Devika scolded in a rude tone.She would have taken my offer back. That’s what she meant.“I have already deleted it , Devika” I almost cried.“These things never happened with me at signNow. But people here..”I broke down. Couldn’t speak much.“What even if you deleted? 1000s of people saw it. All the people on your floor saw it. They may have copied it, downloaded it. It had so confidential information!”“And yeah, put this conversation there too!!” She said in a very rude tone.“I won’t. You know I won’t. ” I whispered.“Anyways Shilpi, now it’d be too awkward for you to go there. We have already stopped your remote access. You can submit the id card to me.”“Okay.”I cried a lot in the cab. Rudra knew it all the time. Why didn’t he himself fire me instead of sending a rude HR. And those two also lied a lot about me. The tone of HR was totally different when I met her on thursday. And today she was really harassing me.It took me a while to understand - all this was planned by Rudra. He choose the rudest and senior-most HR to deal with my case and harass me, just to get back at me., 2 interns were joining today and space was very less in the little cabin. And he knew very well I completed all my work the last week itself. Win-Win situation for Rudra!Varun and Rudra lied to HR. It was evident from the way she treated me. I was made to be feel like a garbage - just because I was late at the office!I cried for an hour. And then, I edited and restored this answer.Do I fear them? Not at all.“I will survive, Tracy thought. I face mine enemies naked, and my courage is my shield.” ― Sidney Sheldon (if tomorrow comes)
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Was the Taj Mahal a Shiva temple?
P.N.Oak is infamous for his revisionist theories about Indian History, which have gained wide support among staunch nationalists.And the most upvoted answer to this question is also based on the “facts” mentioned by P.N.Oak in his book Tajmahal : The True Story.But I don’t understand how someone can even think that a Shiva temple would look like this—[WARNING : Extremely lengthy answer ahead. But you can skip to the TL;DR.]There are many claims that P.N.Oak makes in his book, and provides “evidences” which are not too difficult to debunk.An article titled Reclaim Temples and kick out the fraud in a website called Agniveer (which describes itself as a “Leading site for real Hinduism, untold history, genuine human rights, honest social change, fight against terror, and sincere humanism”) has a compilation of Oak’s “evidences”.It states :Why is the name Mahal added to Mumtaz Mahal, where “Mahal” means “Mansion” in Hindi and “Mahail” in Arabic means “place”? Her actual names recorded in muslim sources is Mumtaz-ul Zamani or Aliya Begum. So where did ‘Mahal’ come from?The answer can be found on Page 212 of The Travels of Peter Mundy in Europe and Asia.Peter Mundy who visited Agra between 1631 and 1633 writes :This Kinge is now buildinge a Sepulchre for his late deceased Oueene Tage Moholl [TajMahal] (as much to say att the brightnes of the Moholl), whome hee dearely affected,He refers to the deceased Queen as “Taj Mahal”.From a footnote on the same page :So it is clear that Shah Jahan’s wife Arjumand Banu Begum was known as Mumtaz Mahal (“Pride of the Palace”) and Taj Mahal (“Crown of the Palace”).P.N.Oak and others questioning the origin of Taj Mahal mention the discrepancies in the accounts of the European travellers who visited Agra during Shah Jahan’s reign; but almost all of those accounts do mention the Taj Mahal being constructed.There are also official records from Shah Jahan’s time which mention the arragements made for the construction of the Taj Mahal. From E.B.Havell’s book Indian architecture, its psychology, structure, and history from the first Muhammadan invasion to the present day (page 31) :Court historian of Shah Jahan, Abdul Hamid Lahori gives a poetic description of the building of the Taj Mahal’s foundation (which according to him began in January 1632) — “And when the spade-wielders with robust arms and hands strong as steel, had with unceasing effort excavated down to the water table, the ingenious masons and architects of astonishing achievements most firmly built the foundation with stone and mortar up to the level of the ground.”(The Taj Mahal by Lesley A. DuTemple, Page 34)After the foundation, the main plinth (the base on which the Taj Mahal sits) was constructed; and it was probably finished on the first urs (death anniversary) of Mumtaz Mahal in June 1632. Thousands of people— nobles, scholars, holy men, rich and poor alike— attended the event. A lavish feast was served. For several days, the atmosphere around the Taj Mahal resembled that of a festive bazar.(The Taj Mahal by Lesley A. DuTemple, Page 37)Peter Mundy mentioned the Taj Mahal to be one of the notable sites in Agra (Page 209) even before it was finished :Places of noate [in and about it] are the Castle, King Ecbars [Akbar's] Tombe, Tage Moholls [TajMahal's] Tombe, Gardens and Bazare.While it can’t be said with certainty how many workers built the Taj Mahal or what was the total expenditure, another discovery supports the fact the Taj Mahal was in fact constructed during Shah Jahan’s reign.In 2004, a list of 671 names was found engraved in a sandstone wall in the complex that surrounds the mausoleum. The list, found on the north side facing the river, is believed to have been inscribed by the same hands that fashioned the extraordinary decorative work of the building. If the archaeologists are right, it is the craftsmen's own attempt to preserve their memory down the centuries.(Image credit : Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images)The chief architect is known to have been Ustad - or Master - Ahmad Lahori. Shah Jahan is said to have had his eyes put out on the Taj's completion so nothing could ever be built to rival it. Amanat Khan Shirazi was in charge of the calligraphy that adorns the Taj. Ismail Khan Afridi was in charge of building the dome, and Mohammed Hanif was superintendent of the masons.The inscriptions reflect the diversity of those who built the Taj Mahal. Most are in Arabic and Persian, which would reflect the Islamic nature of Shah Jahan's court, but some are in the Devanagari script used by Hindi and other Indian languages. There are also traditional Indian symbols, such as swastikas, and geometrical patterns believed to have been used by illiterate artisans.D Dayalan, leader of the team of archaeologists who found the list, told The Asian Age that experts were working to decipher the epigraphs and names engraved in the stones."Since many of them were illiterate, they denoted symbols as a mark of their identity. We call these guilt marks. We already have a team working to decipher the epigraphs and the names.”"The names have been meticulously divided into sections like dome makers, garden development department, furnishing workers and inlay artists.”[1]A letter written by Aurangzeb to Shah Jahan about the Taj Mahal needing repairs, is used as an “evidence” that by the time Shah Jahan “altered” the original structure of the Taj Mahal it was already a few hundred years old, hence it was showing signs of wear.Aurangzeb writes :On Friday [4th] he circumambulated the most luminous shrine (ba tawaf-i-rauza-i-munawwara rafta) and earned the blessings [appropriate to such a] visit, prompted by the purest spirit of submission. The sacred structure (hazlra-i-qudsl asas, "holy hovel") still stands just as firmly as it did when it was completed under Your Majesty's eye.However, the following repairs are required: The dome covering the most sanctified sepulchre (marqad-i-mutahhar) leaks (tarawash mlkunad) in two places, on the northern side, during the rains. The four great arches, most of the balconies on the second storey, the four small domes, the chamber on the northern side [of the tomb] and the basement rooms in the pluith all need attention.The [marble] panels of the outer covering of the great dome (bam-i-jam posh-i-gumbaz-i-kalan [had lifted off] in two or three places, and let the water in (chaklda bud) during these [rains]; (dar in fasl) they have [now] been repaired. One can only guess what will happen in the next rains (dar barishkal-i-ayinda chi rul dahad?)The domes of the mosque and of the Jama'at Khana [opposite] also leaked during the rains, and have also been repaired. The builders claim that if they were to break up (wà karda) the floor above the roof of the second storey, plaster [the roof from above] (rekhta sâzand), and lay over it eighteen inches' thickness of tahkârl work, the pavilions, balconies, and smaller domes might perhaps be made sound.They profess themselves unable to do anything about the main dome.(A Drawing of the Taj Mahal under construction by Kunihiko Aoyama)The above excerpt is from the Letter 45 (pages 171–173) in the English translation Adab-i-Alamgiri, which has the collection of letters written by Aurangzeb to Shah Jahan, translated by Vincent John Adams Flynn.Vincent Flynn explains in the footnotes :The common feature of all these parts of the building is, that they had a flat outer surface permeable by water. The cement originally spread over the vaults of their floors or ceilings must have lacked hydraulic quality. Water will readily penetrate inferior cement, even when covered by thick slabs of stone or marble; but domes and flat roofs all over India have survived many hundreds of years without ever being re-surfaced, and the interiors are not stained by a drop of water.Unfortunately, Aurangzïb has not used exact language; the parts/"dar ham kashïda" (B.M. has dar nlm kashlda, "broken in half", which I, with Ch., reject). He could mean anything between "utterly ruined" and "need to be tidied up". In view of the phenomenal rains of 1652, and the nature of the damage to the principal dome, it is permissible to assert that water penetrated the cement lying above the brick-built vaults.P.N.Oak provided a line-by-line translation of the pages of Badshahnama, which deal with the burial of Mumtaz in his book published in 1966. The following passages are quoted from that source :(On) "Friday--15th Jamadi-ul Awwal, the sacred dead body of the traveller to the kingdom of Holiness, hazrat Mumtaz-ul Zamani--who was buried temporarily.... was brought to the capital Akbarabad (Agra)...The site covered with magnificent lush garden, to the south of that great city and amidst which (garden) the building known as the palace of Raja Mansingh, at present owned by Raja Jaisingh (Pesh az ein Manzil-e Rajan Mansingh bood Wadaree Waqt ba Raja Jaisingh), grandson (of Mansingh) was selected for the burial of the queen whose abode is in heaven.According to this translaton, there was only a palace and not a temple.So, by Oak’s own admission, the Taj Mahal was never a temple.But the question still remains— was the Taj Mahal a Rajput palace, which had a Shiv ling in the place where the cenotaphs of Mumtaz Mahal and Shah Jahan lie?Eminent historian E.B.Havell in his book A Handbook to Agra and the Taj, Sikandra, Fathepur-Sikri, and the Neighbourhood (page 73) writes :According to the old Tartar custom, a garden was chosen as a site for the tomb—a garden planted with flowers and flowering shrubs, the emblems of life,and solemncy press, the emblem of death and eternity. Such a garden, in the Mogul days, was kept up as a pleasure-ground during the owner's lifetime, and used as his last resting-place after his death. The old tradition laid down that it must be acquired by fair means, and not by force or fraud. So Rajah Jey Singh, to whom the garden belonged, was compensated by the gift of another property from the Emperor's private estate.Taj Mahal: The Illumined Tomb by WE Begley and ZA Desai has a compilation of an anthology of contemporary accounts of Shah Jahan’s reign.Two books give details and a translation of the royal "farman" giving four "havelis" in lieu of Raja Jai Singh’s haveli (mansion).Padshah Nama by Qazwini describes the tract of land on the southern side of Agra that had the qualities needed to be the final resting place of the one whose residence was paradise. Qazwini says it was formerly the word "khana", or house of Raja Jai Singh.He also mentions that though the Raja was willing to give it for free, Shah Jahan gave him a lofty house in lieu of it.Lahori also describes a tract of land south of the city as being suitable for the queen’s resting place, and uses the word "manzil" or mansion of Raja Jai Singh. He also mentions the fact that though Raja Jai Singh was willing to give it for free, Shah Jahan gave a lofty mansion from the crown lands in exchange.Muhammad Salih Kanbo writes that the emperor acquired a "heaven-like tract of land (sarzamin e bihist-ain)" which was situated on the south side of Agra and belonged to Raja Man Singh. Once again, the word manzil is used.Though the mansion was gifted immediately after the decision to bury Mumtaz Mahal in Agra was taken in 1631, the exchange of the additional/replacement four "havelis" took two years to affect, as the royal "farman" is dated December 28, 1633.A certified contemporary copy of the "farman" dated 26 Jumada II 1043 AH, sixth regnal year [corresponding to December 28, 1633], is available in the Kapad Dwara collection in Jaipur City palace. The word used in the "farman" too is "haveli" (mansion).“Be it known through this glorious farman marked by happiness, which has received the honor of issuance and the dignity of proclamation, that the mansions (haveli) detailed in the endorsement, together with their dependencies, which belong to the august crown property, have been offered to that pride of peers and vassal of the monarch of Islam, Raja Jai Singh, and are hereby handed over and transferred to his ownership- in exchange of the mansion (haveli) formerly belonging to Raja Man Singh, which that pride of the grandees willingly and voluntarily donated for the mausoleum of that Queen of the ladies of the world ….. Mumtaz Mahal Begum.”[Translation Begley and Desai][2]To give you an idea of what the haveli must have looked like; here is a photograph of a haveli in the heritage village of Holipura in Agra which has charming havelis and rustic buildings, some dating back 350 years.[3]Now obviously, the Taj Mahal is not a haveli; so the structure that existed on the land owned by Raja Jai Singh, and which was probably built by Raja Man Singh, could not have been the Taj Mahal.P.N.Oak also claims about the existance of a Sanskrit inscription called the “Bateshwar inscription” (or as Oak calls it, the “Tejo Mahalaya inscription”) which allegedly refers to the raising of a "crystal white Shiva temple so alluring that Lord Shiva once enshrined in it decided never to return to Mount Kailash his usual abode". According to Oak, the inscription dated 1155 A.D. and was removed from the Taj Mahal garden at Shah Jahan's orders.But the part of the Archaeological Survey of India’s Report for the year 1871–1872 (which was published in 1874) which talks about the archaeological findings in Agra, which was written by A.C.L.Carlleyle under the superintendence of Alexander Cunningham,Director General of ASI , does not mention any such inscription.The report also talks about the etymology of Agra (pages 94–95) and Bhateswar (or Bateshwar) (pages 221–239) and then mentions the remains discovered near Bhateswar (pages 240–247) but there’s no mention of “Agreshwar Dham” (the holy shrine that Oak claims the Taj Mahal to be); even though it mentions the Hindu, Jain and Buddhist sites in and around Agra.(Bateshwar Temples; Uttar Pradesh Tourism | India Tourism Guide)In an article titled The Question of the Taj Mahal written by P. S. Bhat and A. L. Athawale which was published in the Itihas Patrika, Vol. 5, pp 98-111, 1985; they mention Marvin Mills of New York who allegedly reported about the Carbon-14 dating of the Taj Mahal : "Another item of evidence concerning the alleged date of the Taj is adduced from a radiocarbon date from a piece of wood from a door on the north facade of the Jumuna River's bank. The sample was tested by Dr. Even Williams, director of the Brooklyn College Radiocarbon Laboratory. The date came to 1359 AD with a spread of 89 years on either side and 67% probability, Masca corrected."Marvin Mills, now a faculty at Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Ringling College, was a professor at Pratt Institute in New York when he wrote a document titled ‘AN ARCHITECT LOOKS AT THE TAJ MAHAL LEGEND’ (which is available on his website — Marvin H. Mills, AIA History of Islamic Architecture).In his article, he mentioned some “key problems” with the Taj Mahal :1. Consider the identical character of the two buildings on either side of the Taj main building. If they had different functions-one a mosque, the other a guest residence-then, they should have been designed differently to reflect their individual functions.(Image source : Aerial Shots From Around The World)But the Mihman Khana (the guest house) which is the second building on the terrace and east of the mausoleum, does differ from the mosque in small details. It is devoid of Mihrab and Minbar, and the floor is made of simple slabs of red sandstone. Moreover, it does not have the small room that welcomed the remains of Mumtaz Mahal, as on the mosque. But it has the same basin for ablutions, although in its case it is only decorative. [4]Also, the floors of the jawab (another name of the Mihman Khana, which is a “jawab” i.e. “answer” to the mosque; as a form of architectural balance) have a geometric design, while the mosque floor was laid out the outlines of 569 prayer rugs in black marble. [5]2. Why does the perimeter wall of the complex have a Medieval, pre-artillery, defense character when artillery (cannons) was already in use in the Mughal invasions of India? [Why does a mausoleum need a protective wall in the first place? For a palace it is understandable.]Probably because the Taj Mahal was decorated with gold, silver and gems.3. Why are there some twenty rooms below the terrace level on the north side of the Taj facing the Jumna River? Why does a mausoleum need these rooms? A palace could put them to good use. The authors do not even mention their existence.4. What is in the sealed-up rooms on the south side of the long corridor opposite the twenty contiguous rooms? Who filled in the doorway with masonry? Why are scholars not allowed to enter and study whatever objects or decor are within?A website dedicated to the Taj Mahal [6]has an interesting theory about it :If we go by the Turkish Mughal tradition of providing a mausoleum with three set of graves, a tradition that has been followed in the tomb of Akbar, tomb of Itmad-ud-Daulah, and Chini-ka-rauza at Agra, Taj Mahal too should have a third set of graves, with the actual bodies of Mumtaz Mahal and Shah Jahan inside them. This is the myth of the "third graves" of Taj Mahal.[…]It is believed that these real set of graves must be somewhere inside the underground vaults that exist below the red sandstone platform of the Taj Mahal. And on the northern side of this red sandstone platform, lies two staircases that lead straight to the basement chambers which are seventeen in number and have been laid out in a line on the riverside. However, the doors on the extreme points on both the sides have been permanently blocked for some calculated purpose. A purpose that many believe is to conceal the presence of real graves of Mumtaz Mahal and Shah Jahan. According to the Muslim tradition, the real graves are always placed underground so that they remain undisturbed and the dead person could wait till the Day of Judgment and the graves that are visited by people are made in the likeness of the real graves.Another website also supports this theory and says :It is only in these underground vaults that the third set could have been placed. The doors in the basement corridor no doubt exist and must have originally given entry to some underground arrangement of chambers and corridors. Though they are now blocked, their existence lends weights to the legendary version. At least, we have figures,in the Persian manuscripts which contain the account of `third grave, expenditure on the Taj Mahal, of costs of three sets of tombstones. While the two are open to us, the third one is still a mystery. It is possible that the crypt and the passages were closed down in 1652 by Aurangzeb to give additional strength to the base which supported such a huge load above.[7]But of course, this is only just a speculation.Returning to Mills’ list of “key problems” :5. Why does the "mosque" face due west instead of facing Meccah? Certainly, by the seventeenth century there was no problem in orienting a building precisely!I don’t think this proves that the mosque was meant to be something else.6. Why has the Archaeological Survey of India blocked any dating of the Taj by means of Carbon-14 or thermo-luminiscnece? Any controversy over which century the Taj was built could easily be resolved. [Radiocarbon dating of a piece of wood surreptiously taken from one of the doors gave 13th century as a possible date. But more data is needed.]In a presentation (Taj Mahal: Not a Muslim Masterpiece (2007)) about his arguments and findings, he showed a document signed by Evan T. Williams which allegedly states that a sample of wood that Mills procured from the Taj Mahal is about 300 years older than the Taj Mahal itself.But he neither mentions those findings in his article on his website, nor in a letter he wrote to the editor of The New York Times on December 20, 1991 in which he objected to them calling the Taj Mahal "one of the most remarkable monuments of Mogul architecture" and "the tomb of Shah Jahan's beloved Mumtaz Mahal." [8]In his book, History's Mysteries: People, Places and Oddities Lost in the Sands of Time (page 75), Brian Haughton writes :The results of the radiocarbon dating of the wood were allegedly published in the academic journal Radiocarbon (Volume 19; 1977). However, although an examination of back issues of Radiocarbon for 1977 (available at www.radiocarbon.org) does indeed show an article by Dr. Evan Williams (“Brooklyn College Radiocarbon Dates I,” Volume 19, Number 1, 1977), nowhere in this article is there a mention of the dating of a piece of wood from the Taj Mahal.Some people say that the Taj Mahal could not have been constructed by a Muslim emperor, since its very existence is unislamic, (it is more or less a matter of debate whether constructing a tomb is permitted in Islam or not). But it is also a fact that the Mughal emperors before Aurangzeb weren’t staunchly religious in their personal lives.And Aurangzeb, on grounds of both economy and fidelity to the Islamic law criticized the Taj Mahal,the tomb of his mother, remarking: "The lawfulness of a solid construction over a grave is doubtful, and there can be no doubt about the extravagance involved." [9](Although Aurangzeb too commissioned a tomb for his first and chief wife Dilras Banu Begum, posthumously known as Rabia-ud-Daurani; in Aurangabad, which is known as Bibi Ka Maqbara and bears a striking resemblance to the Taj Mahal.)P.N.Oak claims that the interior of the dome rising over Mumtaz's centotaph has a representation of Sun and cobras drawn in gold; and Hindu warriors trace their origin to the Sun while cobras are always associated with Lord Shiva.This is the design he was talking about.While a solar motif is definitely there, there are no cobras— just an artistic representation of the rays of the sun. It’s another example of the brain seeing what it wants to see.[10]Oak also claims that the pinnacle of the Taj Mahal depicts a "Kalash" (sacred pot) holding two bent mango leaves and a coconut, which is a sacred Hindu motif.It is likely that the the architectural design of the Tamga of the Mughal Empire (see above) on the finial of the Taj Mahal, which by the way has “Allah” inscribed on it (see below) was inspired by the kalash on top of Hindu temples.But it is reasonable to assume that if the Taj Mahal were actually a temple, it would have a proper kalash and not a flattened one.Something like these —Image source : Hindu temple architectureAn argument is also made that since the Taj Mahal seems to have a lot of Hindu symbols, it cannot be an Islamic mausoleum; and it must have been a temple or a structure constructed by Hindu rulers.What they seem to forget is that Mughal architecture is an amalgam of Persian, Turkish, and Indian architecture — the former two being “Islamic” and the latter being “Hindu”. So it is not surprising that Mughal structures have Hindu symbols on them too, such as the lotus canopy on the central dome of the Taj Mahal.The Taj Mahal is the culmination of Mughal architecture. It draws inspiration from previous Mughal monuments and perfects their art.Humayun’s Tomb in Delhi seems to be the prototype, from which the central structure of the Taj Mahal was inspired.(Image source : Tourist places | 21th Congress of the International Society for Human and Animal Mycology)Akbar’s Tomb in Sikandra was the source of inspiration for the design of the minars of the Taj Mahal.(Image source : Agra 83 - Akbar's tomb)And Tomb of Jahangir in Lahore seems to have inspired the idea of minars surrounding the central structure.(Image source : Jahangir's Tomb Located In Shahdara, Punjab Pakistan)(Image source : Interesting Facts About the Tomb of Itmad-ud-Daulah Agra)Tomb of I'timād-ud-Daulah (I'timād-ud-Daulah Maqbara), described as a "jewel box", and sometimes called the "Bachcha Taj" (“Baby Taj”), is often regarded as a draft of the Taj Mahal.The tomb, built between 1622 and 1628 represents a transition between the first phase of monumental Mughal architecture – primarily built from red sandstone with marble decorations, as in Humayun’s Tomb in Delhi and Akbar’s tomb in Sikandra – to its second phase, based on white marble and pietra dura (floral design made up of semiprecious stone) inlay, most elegantly realized in the Taj Mahal.The mausoleum was commissioned by Nur Jahan, the wife of Jahangir, for her father Mirza Ghiyas Beg, who had been given the title of I'timād-ud-Daulah, “pillar of the state”; and was also the grandfather of Mumtaz Mahal. Nur Jahan was also responsible for the construction of Tomb of Jahangir in Lahore.The tomb situated on the eastern banks of the river Yamuna, is planned in the centre of a Char-Bagh(Four quartered garden), with the usual enclosing walls and side buildings. The main tomb of white marble is marvelously set in the centre of the garden. It stands on a plinth of red stone having in the middle of each side, facing the central arch, a lotus tank with fountain.The tomb is square in plan with octagonal towers, surmounted by chhatris, attached to its corners.There is no dome ; instead the building is roofed by a square 'Barahdari' having three arched openings on each side which are closed by jalis except in the middle of the north and south sides. It is protected by a chhajja above which is the chaukhandi(pyramidal) roof, crowned by lotus petals and kalash finials.The only asymmetrical element of the entire complex is that the cenotaphs of Nur Jahan’s father and mother have been set side-by-side, a formation replicated in the Taj Mahal.[11]With all these similarities in design, there remains little doubt that the Taj Mahal is a product of Mughal architecture— which is an amalgamation of Hindu and Islamic architecture.But since P.N.Oak was in denial, he claimed that that “all dead muslim courtiers and royalty including Humayun, Akbar, Mumtaz, Etmad-ud-Daula and Safdarjang have been buried in capture Hindu mansions and temples” (as mentioned in Stephen Knapp’s website).The myth that the Taj Mahal was a Hindu temple probably originated from E.B.Havell’s book Indian architecture, its psychology, structure, and history from the first Muhammadan invasion to the present day (pages 21–24) where he wrote that Chandi Sewa at Prambanam inJava, which has an arrangement of domes strikingly similar to that of the Taj, supplies the true prototype of the Taj mausoleum; and not Humayun’s tomb.(Image source : Candi Sewu, Part Of Prambanan Hindu Temple, Indonesia)On page 27, Havell further writes :But (on pages 29–30) he also makes it clear that he is not trying to “erase” the legacy of Mughal architecture (Oak should’ve read this part) :[12]It is a fact that the Taj Mahal was heavily influenced by Humayun’s Tomb, and the Quincunx ( a geometric pattern consisting of five points arranged in a cross, with four of them forming a square or rectangle and a fifth at its center) design which the Taj Mahal employs with the central dome and four smaller domes surrounding it, is not only reminiscent of the Candi Sewu temple and of a Panchayatana (when in a temple the main shrine is surrounded by four subsidiary shrines— a similar design is the quincunx of Angkor Wat), but also of Roman, Byzantine and Persian architecture.(St. Mark’s, Venice : Photo by Dave Curtis)(St. Michael’s Monastery in Kiev. Domes over side chapels are here added to the quincunx which defines the central mass of the church. [Image Source])In pagan antiquity, the quincunx pattern was understood to be a geometric emblem of an ordered world. And after the Christian revelation, a summary of a sanctified universe.[13]The design proposed for St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican by Donato Bramante was a quincunx as well (below). The dome even had a Fleur-de-lis on top.So the Taj Mahal (like other monuments built by the Mughals) is a product of the architectural traditions from different parts of the world.One of the structures which directly influenced the Taj Mahal (and Humayun’s Tomb too) is the Gur-e-Amir (“Tomb of the King”) in Uzbekistan; where an ancestor of the Mughals, Timur (or Tamerlane) is buried.Gur-e-Amir is a one-cupola building, which is famous for its simplicity of construction and for its solemn monumentality of appearance. It is an octahedral building crowned by an azure fluted dome. The exterior decoration of the walls consists of the blue, light-blue and white tiles organized into geometrical and epigraphic ornaments against a background of terracotta bricks. [14](Image source : Gur-e-Amir - Mausoleum in Samarkand - Thousand Wonders)Mughal architecture is a synthesis of of Persian, Turkic, Timurid Iranian, Central Asian, and Indian Hindu and Muslim styles. [15]E.B.Havell in his book A Handbook of Indian Art (page 142) writes how the Taj Mahal is an Islamic structure built in the Hindu and Buddhist traditions :E.B.Havell quotes a line from W.R.Lethaby’s Architecture (page 207) in his book Indian architecture, its psychology, structure, and history from the first Muhammadan invasion to the present day (page 31) to describe Mughal architecture. He says that like all true architeture, it was “not a thing of will, of design,or of scholarship, but a discovery of the nature of things in building, a continuous development along the same line of direction imposed by needs, desires, and traditions”.And that Mughal architecture is “Indian in body and soul” :Up until the 20th century, the Taj Mahal was considered a “symbol of love”, that the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan constructed for his beloved wife Mumtaz Mahal.But after it was finished, Shah Jahan visited the Taj only twice.There is a letter from Aurangzeb to him after a visit, reporting that the dome was leaking and needed to be fixed (mentioned in this answer previously). Shah Jahan wasn't bothered: He had moved on to designing his next project, Shahjahanabad, shifting the Mughal capital from Agra.That is why Aakar Patel in an article writes that Shah Jahan built the Taj Mahal in gratitude :Shah Jahan became emperor because of his wife. Her relatives used the uncertainty around Jahangir's illness and death, to secure power for him.By the time he arrived in Agra, his brothers had all been blinded. This left the throne open for Khurram (as Shah Jahan was named) and without his wife, he would not have been emperor.[…]Absent the quick actions of his wife, Khurram would likely have been blinded or executed by one of his brothers, instead of going on to become a name famous in history.And so the Taj was likely an act of Shah Jahan showing gratitude and it explains why, having done this, he moved on without a qualm.[16]Recent studies have found out that the Taj Mahal is a representation of Paradise associated with the notion of Last Judgment.This vision is due to Wayne Ernest Begley, who published a comprehensive study on the subject. If contemporary texts of the creation of the Taj Mahal specify it, it is essentially the works of Begley which confirms it: The plans of the monument were made compared to the "Plain of the Assembly" (Ard al-Hashr), the eschatological place of the Last Judgment.The layout of the buildings is similar to the plan which is described in the manuscripts of the Illuminations of Mecca by Ibn Arabi :Hence, the Taj Mahal represents a spiritual journey. The complex is divided into 4 parts, all aligned from South to North. Each passage from one to the other corresponds to a symbolic passage, from the most terrestrial to the most celestial.The inner courtyard, named Jilaukhana, is a place of preparation for spiritual life. Symbolically this is the place where people from outside prepare to enter the holiest places of the monument, a place where are the graves of the first two wives of Emperor Shah Jahan and where the officiant resided religious, at the time.The garden (“charbagh”) is a representation of Paradise; and the 4 channels symbolize the 4 rivers of Paradise according to Muslims, namely the river of water, that of milk, that of wine and that of honey.The mausoleum, octagonal, is on a square base, a geometric form associated with the earth. We must know that according to Muslims, we speak not of one but of 8 paradises. It is easy to get between these 8 paradises and the octagon of the mausoleum, and we have a chain: Square to octagon to dome, which symbolically represents the passage from the earth to Paradise. And the 4 minarets are a direct reference to the ascension of souls to the sky.[17](Image source : Taj Mahal from the sky — Wikimedia Commons)In his answer to this question, Puneetchandra Sharma mentions a portion of the English translation of Ain-i-Akbari by Henry Blochmann (Ain-i-Akbari by Abul Fazl, tr by H. Blochmann, Vol I, page 341, No. 30), which reads :Man Singh died a natural death in the 9th year of Jahangir's reign whilst in the Dak'hin. Sixty of his fifteen hundred wives burned themselves on the funeral pile. At the time of his death, only one of his numerous sons was alive, Bhao Singh, regarding whose succession to the title vide Tuzuk i Jahinngiri,“The ground on which the Taj at A'grah stands, belonged to Man Singh.”Mr Sharma argues that “very fact that the Taj Mahal was there before Mumtaz died, falsifies the the present historians claim that it was built by Shah Jahan.”Except it doesn’t.In the beginning of A’i’n 30, which is titled Grandees of the Empire (where the aforementioned excerpt is from); Abul Fazl, referring to the Grandees of the Court, writes that he shall “merely record, in form of a table, their names and the titles which have been conferred upon them” (page 308) :But we find that in the Blochmann translation, there isn’t a mere table but a list of 415 Grandees of the Mughal Empire along with their biographies (from page 308 to page 526).In the footnote on page 308, the translator has written :The fact that these biographies are not there in Francis Gladwin’s translation of Ain-i-Akbari proves that they were not there in the original text, and were only included by Henry Blochmann in his translation.That is why Blochmann has written “The ground on which the Taj at A'grah stands, belonged to Man Singh.”; because he was aware of the history of the Taj.Abul Fazl could not have written this, because he died in 1602 and the construction of the Taj Mahal did not even begin till 1632.TL;DR — NO.The Taj Mahal is not a temple of Lord Shiva.It was commissioned by Shah Jahan as a mausoleum for his deceased wife Mumtaz Mahal. And while it can be argued if it is actually a “symbol of love”, it was certainly never a temple.Also read : What are your views of P.N. Oak’s theory that the Taj Mahal was not built by Shah Jahan and 'Tejo Mahalaya'? by Mayur KanaiyaReferencesThe True Story of the Taj Mahal by Stephen Knapp (a summary of P.N. Oak’s book Tajmahal : The True Story)The Travels of Peter Mundy in Europe and AsiaIndian architecture, its psychology, structure, and history from the first Muhammadan invasion to the present day by E. B. HavellArchaeological Survey of India’s Report for the year 1871–1872The Taj Mahal by Lesley A. DuTempleAn English Translation of the Adab-i-'Alamgiri : The Period Before the War of Succession being The Letters of Prince Muhammad Aurangzib Bahadur to Muhammad Shihabu'd-din Shah Jahan Sahib-i-Qiran-i-Sani, Emperor of Hindustan by Vincent John Adams FlynnA Handbook to Agra and the Taj, Sikandra, Fathepur-Sikri, and the Neighbourhood by E. B. HavellThe Question of the Taj Mahal by P. S. Bhat and A. L. AthawaleAN ARCHITECT LOOKS AT THE TAJ MAHAL LEGEND by Marvin H. MillsHistory's Mysteries: People, Places and Oddities Lost in the Sands of Time by Brian HaughtonRadiocarbon, 1977 ; BROOKLYN COLLEGE RADIOCARBON DATES I by Evan T. WilliamsA Handbook of Indian Art by E. B. HavellThe Ain i Akbari by Abul Fazl ‘Allami, translated from the original Persian, by H. BlochmannAyeen Akbery; or, The Institutes of the Emperor Akber. Translated from the Original Persian by Francis GladwinFootnotes[1] Craftsmen who built Taj Mahal preserved their names in stone[2] The real story of how Taj Mahal was built[3] Discovering the soul of Agra … not at the Taj Mahal - Breathedreamgo[4] Mosque of the Taj Mahal[5] Taj Mahal[6] Is There a Third Set of Graves in Taj[7] Information About Third Grave at Taj[8] Opinion | Separating the Taj Mahal From Legend[9] part2_15[10] The Interior of the Main Dome[11] Tomb of I'timād-ud-Daulah - Wikipedia[12] Taj Mahal Architecture: Origins in Humayun's Tomb (Video) • Approach Guides[13] The Quincunx: Queen of Symbols[14] Gur-e-Amir - Wikipedia[15] Boundless Art History[16] Shah Jahan built the Taj in gratitude[17] Symbolism of the Taj Mahal
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Can someone give me a “simplified” summary of Jacques Derrida's essay "Différance"?
Derrida begins this essay by noting the slightly altered spelling of the word "difference." His use requires the spelling of différance. The latter term has an a for the seventh letter and a diacritical mark above the fifth letter. He spends considerable time pondering the significance. He notes that although "one can act as if it made no difference," he adds that the changed spelling may act as "a kind of insistent intensification of its play (my italics).What is of note here is what he does not say. The word "play" is unobtrusively inserted with no explication for its use. At this point, even if one noticed it, one might simply think that it was a synonym for "use" or perhaps "contrast." Derrida never explicates what it means, leaving the reader to gain meaning through context. The following represent a partial list of various uses of the term:"A kind of insistent intensification of its play.""Better, the play of difference...is the condition for the possibility…of every sign.""The concept of play keeps itself beyond this opposition.""By means of the systematic play of differences.""But on the one hand, these differences play.""What is written as différance, then, will be the playing movement.""Différance would be not only the play of differences within language.""Play" as Derrida uses it is of such foundational importance that one might think that he would present a clearly set out definition. But he does not. A possible reason is that he rarely defines anything since the very act of defining is contrary to the spirit of deconstruction. A less noble motive might be that if he were to do so, then the illogicality of his definition would become immediately apparent. To fully comprehend what "play" means one would have to read deeply into the Derridean canon to discover that "play" and its assorted sisters and brothers like "trace" and "supplement" are all used to justify Derrida's thesis that all words never point to any ultimate referent that he terms the "metaphysics of presence," "full presence," or "transcendental signified." Essentially "play" is used to ignore the contrasts of related words by deferring their meanings from the present to a never-signNowed future. As long as full presence (meaning) is never signNowed, then deconstruction remains a viable means of discourse. "Play" ensures this result.Derrida writes that "différance is literally neither a word nor a concept." (LT, 385) The slightly altered spelling "remains purely graphic; it is read, or it is written, but it cannot be heard." It is here that context gives a clue about the infinite deferral of the term: "Better, the play of difference…is the condition for the possibility and functioning of every sign, is in itself a silent play." The "functioning of every sign" implies that all signs on a textual subway track are set to eternal green. Play allows différance to function simultaneously as a bridge from past to present to future and as a delimiter that separates them. This paradox of simultaneity in Derrida is common enough but here he explains that the concept that we call "the present" is a fiction, one of many that deconstruction exposes. Read carefully the following sentence for sense: "One can expose only that which at a certain moment can become present, manifest, that which can be shown, presented as something present, a being-present in its truth, in the truth of a present or the presence of the present." Behind the convoluted prose lies a rather simple idea: that the "present" is not present at all. It is in motion, slithering and sliding (or playing) from time point "A" to time point "B." Derrida uses some visual graphics to make this slithering possible. Take the word "present" as an example. One might be forgiven for thinking it means "now." But if I were to draw a series of XXX's overlaying it, the word is still there (sort of) but in another sense not there at all. This word is now under erasure. The meaning of "present" has been nudged into the future to be used again as needed. "Present" becomes "future" becomes "past" and so the temporal game continues. And "play" is the grease that lubricates the slithering. This erasing is done automatically since Derrida has previously stated that all texts deconstruct themselves. Every word is under erasure. Hence, no word is temporally stable.Derrida emphasizes the non-corporeal status of différance: it "is not, does not exist, is not a present-being in any form…It has neither existence nor essence." Further, it is "not theological, not even in the order of the most negative of negative theologies." Oddly enough, not only is it "not irreducible to any ontological or theological…reappropriation, it also "includes ontotheology, inscribing it and exceeding it without return." Derrida often places an issue under the heading of a "problematic." In this case, "the problematic of writing is opened by putting into question the value arkhē (controlling principle)." The arkhē of deconstruction "will not be elaborated as a philosophical discourse, operating according to principles, postulates, axioms, or definitions." Rather the focus on deconstruction will be based on strategy and adventure. The former does not permit any "transcendent truth present outside…writing to govern theologically the totality of the field." The latter requires iron nerve to accept that the requisite strategy "is not a simple strategy in the sense that strategy orients tactics according to a final goal, a telos or theme of domination." If strategy is blind, then there likely will be "a certain wandering in the tracing of différance" which increases the likelihood of an unwanted "unity of chance and necessity in calculations without end."Derrida continues to define deconstruction by what it is not: "I would say that différance is neither a word nor a concept." The word itself is a pun on the French différer, which can mean either "to differ" or "to postpone." Saussure tended to view his signs as a spatial difference. Derrida has a new tack; he incorporates a temporal element, the result of which is that he can use the aforementioned terms like "trace" and "supplement" and "play" to disconnect a signified from its referent such that this signified never connects to it.Signs are central in the functioning of deconstruction in that they represent the present even in the absence of that present. When signs circulate throughout the system, they defer the actual moment in which we encounter the thing itself. Derrida sees two categories of signs: secondary and provisional. The former is a substitution of the lost former presence for the interrogating signified while the latter is a movement of mediation between signified and the thing proper. Derrida notes two negative consequences to any act that threatens to remove différance from the system. The first brings to halt any movement however incipient toward full presence. The second is the loss of a generalized Being as presence or absence.In language, there is nothing but differences, all of which play against one another. It is this constant play that accounts for endless deferral of meaning. Each difference is a difference of a signified that is never present in and of itself. The totality of all signs within a system are connected via play from one signified to another in a never ending chain.Much of the remainder of Derrida's essay deals with the interaction of the major elements of the system of signs, with the trace being the most examined. A trace has no cause and no effect but by itself it "is not sufficient to operate the necessary transgression." The trace requires intervention from other elements like the supplement and arche-writing. One unexpected result of the interplay of all the elements operating within a system to destabilize meaning and to defer that meaning is the counter-intuitive claim that writing comes before speech. It is one thing to claim that writing is privileged over speech (which is the central tenet of Derrida's essay) but quite another to claim that writing is anterior to speech. If it is a commonplace to grant that human beings could speak before they could write, then the temporal placement of writing before speech is possible only if one changes the terms involved. Simply to take the all-encompassing term of language which includes speech and writing and in its place substitute "writing" is deceptive and misleading.It is because of différance that the movement of signification is possible. Each element in the system must be related to some other element via the trace which goes backward in time to the past as well as forward in time to the future. There is a name for the interval that separates the present from what it is not: spacing. Spacing is also called arche-writing, arche-trace, or simply différance. Derrida often notes that many of his terms are interchangeable.Différance does not mean simple differentiation. The latter suggests the possibility of full presence while the former does not. Differences then are produced by différance. Now Derrida asks rhetorically: What is différance? What differs? Who differs? (LT, 395) One cannot even ask these questions without losing the very concept that they pose. Derrida now can lump the following concepts into one overarching group: spacing, temporization, play of traces. This group name is archi-writing (also spelled arche-writing). Can arche-writing be fully present in itself? Yes, but only if consciousness is present even if play and signification is absent. Consciousness is the exception to the rule that forbids full self-presence. Consciousness is self-presence. Différance however still forbids full self-presence within the system of signs so it (the system or Derrida?) by fiat transforms self-presence into determination or effect, both of which are permitted.Paired binaries do not erase or cancel each other out. Each is the différance of the other. Another way then to define différance is "the name we might give to the 'active' moving discord of different forces and of differences of forces." Derrida links différance to the psychological theories of Sigmund Freud: the trace is a Freudian bsignNowing and the trace is a Freudian effort of life to protect itself.Différance suggests that what we call the "past" is a past that has never been present and will never be the future. Thus trace is incompatible with the retention of memory from past to present to future. Différance is not a present being even as it is the present. "It governs nothing, reigns over nothing, and nowhere exercises any authority." But it instigates subversion of every element in a system. It is the unfolding of Being. The trace does its work even as it erases itself, muffles itself yet still manages to re-appear at any and all times. The trace is not a presence; it is the simulation of a presence that erases itself even as it reproduces itself in an eternal cycle of birth/death/birth/death etc. The self-consciousness that is the one and only transcendental signified allowed by Derrida also marks the present as that which "becomes the sign of the sign and the trace of the trace." None of the names that Derrida uses to enable language to defer meaning is really suitable to the task, not even différance, but since we live in a most imperfect universe, it will just have to do.Analysis:In his essay, “Differance,” Jacques Derrida is critiquing no less than the two millennia history of Western thought which he claims is based on a hierarchy of binary oppositions: man/woman, birth/death, good/evil/ speech/writing, etc. In all such binaries, the left side of the slash Derrida sees as superior, favored, or privileged over the right, which is relegated to an inferior or subordinate position. In order to correct this long-standing inequality, Derrida sought to destabilize the binary opposition, not by merely reversing the order (which would only reverse the master-slave relation) but by causing the entire process of ascribing dominance of one side over the other to become blurred so that it would be impossible for either side of the slash to claim superiority.Related to the general issue of binaries was one specific binary that greatly troubled Derrida—that of speech favored over writing. Derrida, in another essay called “Plato’s Pharmacy,” notes that beginning with Plato in the Phaedrus, Western thought relegated writing as a “mere inscription” consisting of “alien, arbitrary, lifeless signs.” The Logos, which is Greek for “word” had, in Plato’s opinion, relevance primarily when it was spoken. Derrida spent much of his career trying to destabilize that single binary.Derrida begins with an odd opening sentence: “I will speak, therefore of a letter.” This letter is the letter “e” which is normally how one spells “difference.” However, Derrida spells that word using an “a,” différance to play on the French word différer, which can mean “to defer” or “to postpone.” From this new word, Derrida has constructed a new system of logic and philosophy called deconstruction which has transformed Western culture in such a manner that colleges and universities no longer teach absolutes like God is all-powerful or that man is inherently good. Now because of Derrida, there are no Eternal Truths and meaning has no meaning.The dual meaning of différer contains the key to Derridean thought. When it is used to show difference, Derrida states that words do not contain within themselves definitions which can only point to other words from which they differ. When it is used to postpone, the trail of meaning is endlessly deferred through an equally endless chain of signifiers. Think of looking up a definition for a word in the dictionary. In that definition, one finds another word which one looks up as well. And this process repeats itself ad infinitum. The definition, then, is never totally signNowed.Derrida speaks of différance in roundabout paradoxical ways. He does not define what it is. He can only say what it is not. It is not strictly speaking a word or a concept. The best that Derrida can do is to explain it in terms of a three-dimensional grid. The first two elements are from Saussure’s signifier and signified. The third element relates to temporality, which includes the never-ending and useless search for a non-existent Ultimate Meaning. It is as if Hansel and Gretel spend an eternity following a trail of bread crumbs with one crumb leading only to the next but never pointing them to their destination.Derrida uses two other terms crucial to deconstruction: trace and supplement. Like différance, both terms are neither words nor concepts. Derrida does not like to provide definitions, which he says merely empower the same system of binaries that he is attempting to destabilize. He prefers to provide suggestions about how one may perceive or conceive that which may not be perceived or conceived. A trace is a wispy Freudian cosmic string that has no length, breadth, or width yet it is the thinnest of linguistic slivers that point—however badly—to the next trace that repeats the process. A supplement contains the dual notion of adding to a supply that needs that supplement or does not need it. When one pronounces the word différance, one cannot “hear” which version is meant since the two words sound exactly the same. One is left with looking at the spelling to ascertain meaning. Derrida is clearly playing with words and phonetics as he leaves it to the reader to free-associate with whatever wispy trace or supplement is required for meaning. As one does this, one is using Derrida’s logic of supplementarity to destabilize a binary such that the non-privileged term reverses the ostensible meaning of that binary. However one uses différance, one is using it to mean physical/spatial difference and/or temporal difference. Language, then, becomes an exercise in delay, postponement, and absence of meaning. The former cornerstone of Western thought, the Transcendental Signified, loses its previous stability and self-sufficiency. Past, present, and future inexorably commingle with time and space having no meaning. The terms that Derrida uses—différance, trace, supplementarity—are now seen as having the same purpose and meaning: to replace Eternal Truths with Transitory Non-Utterances.In this essay, as in much of his canon, Derrida tends to harp on the abstruse and arcane texture of philosophical concepts that the vast majority of even erudite laymen know little. He rarely uses the standard writing strategies of providing examples, transitional phrases, and the avoidance of excessive abstractions. Thus, any flaws are likely to remain well hidden. Readers of Derrida have the ongoing responsibility to determine the viability of a theory that seeks to overthrow many centuries of Western thought and discourse.
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Do we have a collective paradigm? Else, is it fragmented?
I answer a definite yes, we do have a collective paradigm, which the vast majority of people within and outside of science subscribe to. They are not doing so consciously, it is experienced as "simply the way things are". I will first illustrate the existence of the paradigm via quotes then briefly describe the structure of the paradigm, followed by a brief examination of its core beliefs and limitations, as well as the reasons for these. Once this is understood it then becomes possible to comprehend a glimpse of the emerging paradigm.Revealing the collective paradigmThe paradigm is so deeply engrained and unconscious that it is essentially invisible to those who subscribe to it. Anything that cannot be understood within that paradigm is assumed to be fundamentally incomprehensible. Any problems that lie outside of its scope are avoided. The few who do not subscribe to it are assumed to be stupid, charlatans or crazy. So how can it be revealed?"The essence of science: ask an impertinent question, and you are on the way to a pertinent answer." (Jacob Bronowski)Core features of that paradigm have been brought into question, most notably by quantum mechanics. Hence that 'invisible' paradigm is beginning to come into view and people are beginning to question its validity."There exists a cognitive repression of the interpretation problem by the majority of physicists. For that majority the questions concerning the meaning of quantum mechanics are answered once and for all by the Copenhagen interpretation, and all further inquiry is rejected as a sign that the inquirer does not understand the topic. Further questions are called "only philosophical" and thus not befitting a physicist. But if one inquires in depth what the Copenhagen interpretation says one gets a variety of different answers. According to Fox-Keller this, too, is a sign for evasion, whereby what is evaded is the necessity of a new cognitive structure which differs radically from the existing one. Fox-Keller calls the old structure classical objectivism." (Anton Zeilinger, On the Interpretation and Philosophical Foundation of Quantum Mechanics)"discussions about the meaning of quantum mechanics remain stymied as a result of the failure of physicists to formulate a cognitive paradigm adequate to their theory... implicitly, they retain one or the other of the two basic tenets of classical physics, the objectivity or the knowability of nature." (Evelyn Fox Keller, Cognitive repression in contemporary physics) How can one recognise when one is caught within a self-reinforcing delusion?"The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds the most discoveries, is not ‘Eureka!’ (I found it!) but ‘That’s funny...’" (Isaac Asimov)"The paradox is only a conflict between reality and your feeling what reality ought to be." (Richard Feynman)For an example of the paradoxical nature of quantum systems see John Ringland's answer to In simple terms, what does the Stern-Gerlach experiment imply about the nature of quantum systems and observable phenomena?A good way to reveal an all-pervasive, unconscious collective paradigm is to observe the cognitive dissonance that arises when that paradigm clashes with the paradigm that is emerging from quantum mechanics.Here are some quotes that illustrate the prevailing cognitive dissonance:"He has a grad student who is thinking about the meaning of quantum mechanics – he's doomed." (John von Neumann)"If [quantum theory] is correct, it signifies the end of physics as a science." (Albert Einstein)"Einstein said that if quantum mechanics is right, then the world is crazy. Well, Einstein was right. The world is crazy." (Daniel Greenberger)"Everything we call real is made of things that cannot be regarded as real." (Niels Bohr)"I do not like [quantum mechanics], and I am sorry I ever had anything to do with it." (Erwin Schrödinger)"Those who are not shocked when they first come across quantum theory cannot possibly have understood it." (Niels Bohr)"It is safe to say that nobody understands quantum mechanics." (Richard Feynman)"Quantum mechanics makes absolutely no sense." (Roger Penrose)"If you are not completely confused by quantum mechanics, you do not understand it." (John Wheeler)"Do not keep saying to yourself, if you can possibly avoid it, ‘but how can it be like that?’ because you will get ‘down the drain,’ into a blind alley from which nobody has yet escaped. Nobody knows how it can be like that." (Richard Feynman)"Of all the theories proposed in the 20th century, the silliest is quantum theory... The only thing quantum theory has going for it is that it is unquestionably correct." (Michio Kaku)"Whoever endows the wave function with more meaning than is needed for computing observable phenomena is responsible for the consequences." (Nico van Kampen)"Electrons seem to have modes of being, or modes of moving, available to them which are quite unlike what we know how to think about." (David Z. Albert)"Quantum mechanics is magic." (Daniel Greenberger)"If you think you understand quantum mechanics, you don’t understand quantum mechanics." (Richard Feynman)"Had I known that we were not going to get rid of this damned quantum jumping, I never would have involved myself in this business!" (Erwin Schrödinger)"[Quantum mechanics is] the intellectual scandal of the century." Rene Thom"After more than 50 years (now over 80 years) of unquestionable success as a theory, questions about the interpretation of quantum mechanics continue to plague both physicists and philosophers." Evelyn Fox Keller"There is a major 'dangerous' scientific idea in contemporary physics, with a potential impact comparable to Copernicus or Darwin. It is the idea that what the physics of the 20th century says about the world might in fact be true." (C. Rovelli)Structure of the collective paradigmIt originates from Naive Realism, see John Ringland's answer to What is naïve realism? This is its unconscious roots that permeate almost the entire human population.It manifests within science as classical objectivism and empiricism, see: John Ringland's answer to Naive Realism: Can it ever be said that Scientific realism takes off from the springboard of commonsense or naive realism?Core beliefsThe affect of naive realism means that the resulting paradigm inevitably leads to an unconscious, unshakeable, unquestionable belief in materialism and an objective physical universe, as well as a strong aversion to subjective experience and anything related to it.“some perceptions are interrelated or associated to form other perceptions which are then projected onto a world putatively outside the mind.” (David Hume)The reason why these beliefs arise is because naive realism leads us to unconsciously ignore the role of experience in the apprehension of that which is experienced and to assume objective existence for the objects that are portrayed by experience. This is why empiricism was such an obvious and compelling methodology for science to initially adopt. It also explains why the role of the objective observer was the obvious role for naive realist scientists to adopt.In the early formulation of the scientific method people were assumed to be capable of studying nature "with minds washed clean from opinions" (Francis Bacon) thus able to apprehend the natural world as it is. Thus the influence of naive realism was not recognised and it became enshrined in the scientific method in the form of empiricism.“Empiricists claim that sense experience is the ultimate source of all our concepts and knowledge” (Rationalism vs. Empiricism)Thus the scientific discourse became entangled within a closed loop of self-reinforcing hidden assumptions, which necessitated the postulation of more and more beliefs to explain the distorted view of reality that was being examined.To explain the many objects that we apprehend we long ago postulated the existence of 'matter', which serves as the substance in which the observable properties inhere. Not realising that those observations were actually arising in our experiences and not inhering in external objects."materialism is the philosophy of the subject who forgets to take account of himself." (Schopenhauer)This further required us to postulate an objective 'fabric' of space and an objective 'arrow' of time. And much more, analogous to the proliferation of epicycles in the Ptolemaic system of astronomy. These assumptions underlie all of classical physics and they served us well right up until the advent of relativity theory and quantum mechanics which revealed how inadequate these ideas really are. In the face of energy / mass conversion, relativistic inertial frames, quantum non-locality, etc the ideas of objective matter, space and time break down. "We have no satisfactory reason for ascribing objective existence to physical quantities as distinguished from the numbers obtained when we make the measurements which we correlate with them... On the contrary, we get into a maze of contradiction as soon as we inject into quantum mechanics such concepts as carried over from the language and philosophy of our ancestors... It would be more exact if we spoke of ‘making measurements’ of this, that, or the other type instead of saying that we measure this, that, or the other ‘physical quantity’." (E. C. Kemble, The Fundamental Principles of Quantum Mechanics)Core limitationThe whole idea of an objective external world is undermined by modern science and the world-view that modern science forces upon us seems paradoxical because the belief system upon which classical science was formed had, from the outset, consistently ignored the role of subjective experience in the apprehension of phenomena. “Useful as it is under everyday circumstances to say that the world exists 'out there' independent of us, that view can no longer be upheld.” (John Wheeler)Overlooking the role of subjective experience in the apprehension of phenomena leads directly to the core limitation of the current paradigm. That is its complete inability to coherently approach the topic of consciousness, which is thus known as the Hard Problem of Consciousness.Science has "looked through" consciousness whilst pretending to be objectively apprehending an external world. It has studied those allegedly external objective phenomena and then much later it attempts to explain consciousness in terms of those phenomena. That is why consciousness is such a mystery to science.This is signNowly compounded by the entrenched belief in inanimate matter that engages in inanimate mechanical processes that are mysteriously guided by universal laws. This belief arose from the focus on the outer appearances of things whilst overlooking the inner experiences of ourselves and totally denying that other systems could also have inner experiences of some kind appropriate to their nature. Animals were once believed to be automatons and behavioural psychology in the 20th century even garnered signNow support for its claims that humans also had no inner experiences. That is the extreme of the objectivist approach, to utterly deny the existence of subjectivity.“The old foundations of scientific thought are becoming unintelligible. Time, space, matter, material, ether, electricity, mechanism, organism, configuration, structure, pattern, function, all require reinterpretation. What is the sense of talking about a mechanical explanation when you do not know what you mean by mechanics? The truth is that science started its modern career by taking over ideas derived from the weakest side of the philosophies of Aristotle's successors. In some respects it was a happy choice. It enabled the knowledge of the seventeenth century to be formulated so far as physics and chemistry were concerned, with a completeness which lasted to the present time. But the progress of biology and psychology has probably been checked by the uncritical assumption of half-truths. If science is not to degenerate into a medley of ad hoc hypotheses, it must become philosophical and must enter upon a thorough criticism of its own foundations.” (Alfred North Whitehead)However quantum mechanics, due to the fact that it is a rationalist science and not an empiricist science could overcome the limitations of naive realism. See John Ringland's answer to Can it ever be said that Scientific realism takes off from the springboard of commonsense or naive realism?Thus in quantum mechanics the role of the observer is central."Wheeler labels the individual quantum phenomenon an elementary act of creation. We as observers play a signNow role in this process... We have now gradually brought the role of the observer into the center of our discussion, a role which is expressed by Clauser in his joint analysis with Shimony of the present EPR-Bell situation as follows: "perhaps an unheard tree falling in the forest makes no sound after all"". (Anton Zeilinger, On the Interpretation and Philosophical Foundation of Quantum Mechanics)“I had come to suspect, and now felt compelled to acknowledge, that science and the physical world were products of human imagining; that we were not the cool observers of that world, but its passionate creators. We were all poets and the world was our metaphor.” (Roger S Jones)“Quantum theory essentially erased the difference between matter and fields, making reality a unit that exhibits the properties of both. This single, unitary stuff gave rise to the fantastically successful algorithm now used by physicists in all calculations involving quantum theory. But nobody knows what this unitary stuff really is. Most quantum physicists, of course, stop short of calling this unitary substance consciousness.” (Norman Friedman)These tensions between what science is saying about reality and the current paradigm, with its beliefs about how reality ought to be result in avoidance and cognitive repression: see John Ringland's answer to Despite having evidence that contradicts someone's belief, why can't they come to believe something new?This inevitably produces a degree of dogmatism in contemporary science: see John Ringland's answer to Has science become too dogmatic?Glimpse of the emerging paradigmFor a discussion on the paradigm emerging from quantum mechanics and how to understand it see John Ringland's answer to Will we ever be able to truly understand Quantum Mechanics?Instead of recoiling from the apparent paradoxes and simply stating that quantum mechanics makes no sense it is possible to shift to a different paradigm from which these paradoxes can be seen to be sensible and necessary features of reality. For example, see John Ringland's answer to What is light made up of, particles or waves?Once the emerging paradigm is understood it becomes possible to begin to address other outstanding issues, such as the question of what is consciousness. For some insights into this see John Ringland's answer to What is consciousness?It also becomes possible to consider the broader issue of Now that naive realism has been disproven by quantum mechanics, how will this impact our collective paradigm?
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Who was Anne Boleyn engaged to before she married Henry VIII? What happened to him?
Anne Boleyn once had a relationship with Henry Percy, an “understanding” that didn’t equate to a formal engagement, but there’s little doubt the couple wanted to marry. If things had transpired just a little differently, she might have gotten married and lived out her life quietly as the Countess of Northumberland.Percy was born in 1502 and was the eldest son of the Earl of Northumberland. His father seems to have disliked him and favored Percy's younger brothers, who were more vigorous in constitution. In contrast, Percy was "soft," emotional, delicate of health, and bookish, more suited to life in the royal court than in rugged Northumbria.As a young boy, he was sent to the household of Cardinal Wolsey. It was sort of like the Tudor version of a finishing school. Young people were sent to join the households of other nobles to learn the courtly arts and complete their educations. Anne had been sent away very young to the court of Margaret of Austria for much the same reason, but then she had been sent to France to serve first at the court of Mary Tudor, and then at that of Queen Claude.Now, she was back in England, a polished and sophisticated young woman who was likely in the household of her aunt, the Duchess of Norfolk. (She wouldn't be appointed to the household of Queen Katharine until much later.)When the cardinal went to court, wrote Wolsey’s biographer, George Cavendish, Percy would linger with the ladies in the queen’s chamber. That’s where he met Anne Boleyn.We know Anne was at court by February 1522, because she is recorded as playing the part of Perseverance in a court masque. It’s believed Anne had been recalled from the French court because her father was negotiating a marriage for her with James Butler, Earl of Ormond. Anne’s father and Ormond had an ongoing inheritance dispute that the marriage was intended to solve.Anne Boleyn’s grandmother was Lady Margaret Butler, daughter of the 7th Earl of Ormond. When the earl died, he had no sons, and so the daughters split the inheritance. Thomas Boleyn felt he should have inherited the Ormond title through his mother, but a cousin actually living on the lands, Piers Butler, more-or-less claimed the title for his own, and there wasn’t much Thomas Boleyn could do about it, considering Piers Butler had the backing of the Irish lords.Cardinal Wolsey may have been the one who suggested the idea of marrying Anne to Piers Butler’s son, James, as a way of settling the dispute. It’s uncertain of whether Anne knew about these negotiations at the time. Cavendish says she didn’t, and from what we know of Anne’s moral standards, she wouldn’t have begun a relationship with Percy if she knew she was about to be married to another man. As strange as it seems to us today, the opinion of the bride was considered to be so inconsequential that she wouldn't even be informed the marriage was being negotiated until it was a "done deal."Just how far this relationship with Percy went is a matter of speculation. Cavendish writes that a secret love grew between Anne and Percy, and they agreed to marry.In the Tudor era, a betrothal was legally binding. It could be as simple as saying in front of witnesses that the couple intended to marry, or for the upper classes, drawing up contracts which detailed the financial obligations involved. Subsequent marriages were invalid if it was determined that either party had been pre-contracted to another person without it being invalidated by a papal dispensation.Did Anne and Percy ever say the “magic words?” Both later swore that there had never been a legally binding betrothal between them. Both of them were trained courtiers who knew how to communicate without technically ever saying dangerous words. It’s entirely possible they had an "understanding" without ever crossing that line.When Henry VIII sought a dispensation to marry Anne, he included wording that would dissolve any pre-contracts Anne may have had with another man, even though neither of Anne’s negotiated unions had ever signNowed the technical point."...to be dispensed to marry any other woman whatever, even though she has already contracted marriage with another, as long as she has not consummated it with carnal coupula..."Cavendish claims it was the king who discovered the relationship between Anne and Percy and ordered Wolsey to break it off because he wanted Anne for himself. But all evidence points to the king becoming interested in Anne in late 1525/early 1526, years after this incident occurs.In reality, it was likely Anne’s father and the cardinal who put a stop to the match. The cardinal would likely have been concerned at seeing the solution to the irksome Boleyn-Butler inheritance issue being dismantled, and Thomas Boleyn likely wouldn’t have wanted to see his daughter entangled with a man of high title, but low financial prospects. Percy’s family also had a match in mind for him, and were likely displeased he was putting that at risk.Cavendish records that Wolsey summoned Percy and chastised him in front of a hall full of servants, and disparaged Anne - something he was unlikely to do if the king was actually driving the situation because of his own interest in Anne."I marvel not a little of thy peevish folly, that thou wouldest tangle and ensure thyself with a foolish girl yonder in the court, I mean Anne Boleyn. Dost thou not consider the estate that God hath called thee unto in this world? For after the death of thy noble father, thou art most like to inherit and possess one of the most worthiest earldoms of this realm. […] Ye have not only offended your natural father, but also your most gracious sovereign lord, and matched yourself with one, such as neither the king, nor yet your father will be agreeable with the matter. And hereof I put you out of doubt, that I will send for your father, and at his coming, he shall either break this unadvised contract, or else disinherit thee for ever. The king’s majesty himself will complain to thy father on thee, and require no less at his hands than I have said; whose Highness intended to have preferred [betrothed] her unto another person, with whom the king hath travailed already, and being almost at a point with the same person, although she knoweth it not, yet hath the king, most like a politic and prudent prince, conveyed the matter in such sort, that she, upon the king’s motion, will be, I doubt not, right glad and agreeable to the same."According to Cavendish, Percy wept and protested:"… in this matter I have gone so far, before many so worthy witnesses, that I know not how to avoid myself nor to discharge my conscience."Wolsey then responded that he and the king knew what to do in such circumstances, and ordered Percy never to speak to Anne again or face the wrath of the king.Anne was sent home to Hever for about a year, and Percy fell ill soon after the cardinal forced him to break it off with Anne. It sounds like his health was adversely affected by his depression, because throughout his life, illness usually followed periods of sadness. And there was a lot of sadness in Percy's life.The cardinal didn't want to have to worry about his unruly charge trying to contact Anne, so he arranged with Percy's father to have him sent north, to take up command over some of his father's dominions. Percy, wracked with fever, made it part of the way on horseback, and then had to be transported on a litter - essentially an enclosed bed carried by men or supported between horses.Percy was put in command of some of his father's troops who had been fighting battles on the border with Scotland. It was a task Percy seems to have disliked and he was not particularly competent at it. His illness was aggravated by the Northern climate, and the hardy Northumbrians scoffed at his lack of enthusiasm. It was a dangerous time to have an ineffective commander, because the Scots were particularly agitated and aggressive.Percy submitted to the cardinal's directives and married the bride his father had picked for him, Mary Talbot. The House of Percy says that Mary was unattractive in both body and demeanor, but the book is very unsympathetic to her. She and Percy simply weren't suited, but they had little choice but to obey the people who had power over their lives.Their families had been planning the marriage since 1516, but it wasn’t concluded until after the Anne Boleyn incident. We’re unsure of the date - it occurred sometime between 1523 and 1526.She had no dowry, which was probably the real reason her marriage had been somewhat difficult to arrange. All she brought to the marriage with Percy was her impeccable bloodline.Their wedding was a miserly affair that didn't start their future together well. Traditionally, the poor living on the lands of a noble would get the leftovers from the bountiful wedding feast, a way for the commoners to join in the celebrations, even if from afar. But Wolsey forbade the expenditure. The "feast" was instead a simple dinner, with just enough food to feed the household. The locals went away from the gates hungry, and they blamed Percy and his bride for it.To say it was an was an unhappy union from the start is a gross understatement. Quite simply put, the couple heartily despised one another.Percy was “sick in mind and body.” It sounds like he was depressed over his situation. Percy's father died in 1527, and Percy inherited a mess. His father had always chided him as a spendthrift, but the truth of the matter was that his father, known as the "Magnificent Earl," had been the one with the extravagant ways. Money had to be borrowed to bury the earl decently because the earldom was so deeply in debt - they owed £10,000 to the crown alone. Perhaps that's why Percy gave up and surrendered his finances to Wolsey.The cardinal received the income from it to pay the debts and gave the couple a pitifully meager allowance of six shillings and ten pence apiece. Had this been just pocket money, it would have been sufficient, but they had to pay for all of their food and drink from this sum, leaving very little for anything else. Mary's entire wardrobe at this time was valued at £49 - jewelry and all - a pitiful showing for a countess. (Anne Boleyn, by contrast, paid more for a single nightgown.)Percy's brothers were constantly nagging him for money, and were resentful when he didn't share much with them. The financial pressures could not have helped the situation between Percy and his wife.Wolsey employed the servants - and possibly even Percy’s new wife - as spies to keep a close eye on Percy’s activities. Brenan writes that they lied to the cardinal about Percy’s spendthrift ways, and so Percy was constantly harangued with chastising letters.Worse, Percy was faced with insurgents and outlaws on the borders of his lands that he was expected to combat and bring to heel. His depression and lack of enthusiasm for warfare against the rampaging Scots were seen as unmanly. His younger brothers were more skillful in this area, leading many to wish one of them was the earl instead of Percy. The brothers often commanded the Percy forces, a situation which would cause some difficulty in a few years. The money the crown paid him for keeping men at arms to fight the Scots and rebels wasn't enough to cover the expenses, driving his estate further into debt.Organizing force against them was one thing, but when he had to execute them, it was quite another. One young boy stirred his pity, but he feared his own influence wasn’t enough to obtain mercy. He entreated friends to approach the king on his behalf. They were successful and the boy’s life was spared, but this got Percy in further difficulty with Wolsey."You should not use so cantellous and colourable dealing with one that thus tenderly hath brought you up and set you forward…"He visited London to report on the state of his lands to the king and cardinal in 1528, and one wonders if he thought he might run into a certain girl with "beautiful black eyes" who was now engaged to the king. But Percy never encountered Anne on this visit. Anne had fallen ill herself of the "sweating sickness" and was at home recovering at Hever while Percy was in London.Like his health, Percy’s relationship with his wife, Mary Talbot, never improved. In 1529, she became pregnant and fled back to her father’s home. Her child was stillborn, and Mary herself almost died. Wolsey persuaded her to return to her husband after she recovered, but Mary became convinced that Percy was going to have her poisoned.Wolsey never had a chance to sort out that one because the king decided the cardinal wasn’t working in his best interest to get him the annulment he wanted so he could marry Anne Boleyn. Percy was the one sent to arrest the cardinal, the man who had managed his affairs and treated him like a child all of these years. By all accounts, Percy treated Wolsey kindly as he escorted the cardinal toward what would probably have been his doom. But Wolsey died before he could face the king’s “justice.”Soon afterward, Mary Talbot sought an annulment of her own, having gone back to her father’s house again. Apparently, during one of her quarrels with her husband, Percy had mentioned he had once wanted to marry Anne Boleyn. Mary took that as an admission of a pre-contract between himself and Anne, and if she could force the issue, it might be a way out of her detested marriage.Anne Boleyn decided to confront the matter head on, and asked the king to launch an investigation into it. Percy was summoned before the council. There, before the Archbishop of Canterbury, he solemnly swore on the host that there had never been a betrothal between himself and Anne Boleyn.Was he telling the truth? Some writers have posited that Percy gallantly denied his betrothal to Anne so she could marry the king, even though it meant condemning himself to continue a hellacious marriage with his hated wife. But the real answer is likely more mundane. Anne and Percy probably had an understanding, but didn’t go so far as to technically commit themselves. Percy swore it on the sacrament, which wasn’t a thing undertaken lightly in those days. It’s highly unlikely he would have lied on the host and risked the damnation of his soul.Only a scant three years after Anne’s marriage to the king, she was charged with adultery and treason. As a peer, Percy was summoned to be a juror in her trial. Percy had to know she was doomed, just like the cardinal he had escorted a few years before, and there was nothing he could do to save her. What emotional cost this may have had to him, we will never know, but it is recorded that after he said the required word, “guilty,” he collapsed and had to be carried from the court.His ordeal was not over. After the jury dutifully found Anne guilty, the king decided he wanted an annulment. His marriage would be ended by a blade in only a few short days, but Henry was determined to erase the marriage completely and bastardize his daughter, Elizabeth, too. (Ironically, if Anne was never married to Henry, she couldn’t have committed adultery, but no one stopped to question that little technicality.) Percy was dragged out again and asked whether or not there was a pre-contract.This time, there was likely a good deal of pressure on Percy to “admit” there was. Percy held firm. He wrote a statement, addressed to Cromwell:"I perceave by Sir Reginald Carneby that ther is a supposed Pre-contract between the Queen and me. Wherfor I was not only examined upon my othe before the Archbishoppes of Canterburie and York, but also reccaved the blessed Sacrament upon the sayme, before the Duke of Norfolk, and others of the Kynges hignes Council learned in spiritual law; assuring you, Mr. Secretary, by the said othe and bessed bodye, which affore I receaved, and herafter entend to receave, that the same may be to my damnation if there were any contract or promise of marriage betweane her and me.At Newingtone Grene, the XII daye of May, in the 28th year of the reigne of our Soveraigne Lord, King Henry the VIII. Your assured NORTHUMBERLAND."It ultimately didn’t matter. What the king wanted, he would get. Cranmer was sent to the Tower to speak to Anne and emerged with the “evidence” he needed to annul the king’s marriage. What it was is unknown. The document merely states that she admitted to an impediment that was “unknown” to the king at the time of their marriage.Anne went to the scaffold, stripped of her titles of queen and wife. She was once again simply Anne Boleyn, as she had been in those heady days of 1522, when Percy had fallen in love with the girl who had beautiful black eyes.He returned home after Anne's execution, "sick in body and mind." He tried to do his duty and keep order in his lands. He refused to join the rebels of the Pilgrimage of Grace, even when both of his brothers did. His brothers demanded he join them, or surrender command of the earldom's forces to them.Percy, who had been too ill to rise from his bed when his brothers approached him, refused both demands. William Stapleton later wrote that he saw the earl after the confrontation with his brothers."[H]e fell in weeping, ever wishing himself out of the world."Outside, the mob was howling for them to cut off Percy's head and make his younger brother Thomas the earl. The leader of the rebels, Robert Aske, may have been alarmed by the vehemence of the men in the field against Percy. He sent to earl to York, possibly for Percy's own protection, but also to get him out of the way as the younger brothers led the Northumbrians who sided with the rebels, some 6,000 men, it's said. Percy was more-or-less a prisoner in one of his own manors.The rebellion failed and his brothers were attained as traitors after the rebellion was crushed. One of them was eventually pardoned, but the elder, Thomas, was executed.Taking stock of his own life, he realized it was highly unlikely he’d have children of his own. He had intended to leave his earldom to the children of his brother, but their father was an attained traitor, and they could no longer inherit. The estate would revert to the crown when Percy died.Percy tried the only thing he could to help his nephews. Instead of waiting for his death, he gave the estate to the king outright. In this way, he bypassed the inheritance rules that barred the boys from getting the estate, and prayed the king or the next monarch might be kind enough to confer the estate on them if they earned favor. Percy also hoped that by gifting the king his vast holdings, the king might be generous enough to pay off his debts, or perhaps allow him the income from one of his earldom’s offices, so he didn’t have to live in such miserable poverty. He was so ill, he had to be carried by litter to sign the legal documents gifting the earldom to the king.Counting on Henry VIII's magnanimity was never a good idea, even under the best of circumstances. The petty king refused to pay even the interest on Percy's debts. Percy, living in abject poverty, asked if he could at least have the rest of the salary that was due to him from one of his offices. This wasn't a favor - it was his by right. But the king refused even that, leaving Percy penniless.He had been allowed to remain in one of his estate houses, Hackney. But he had nothing to live on except money he managed to beg from his few remaining friends. He had only two elderly servants to attend to him, and his confessor. They were with the "Unhappy Earl" when he died on June 29, 1537.Cromwell had to chide money from the king to pay for Percy's funeral, saying there'd be a public scandal if he didn't at least bury the man decently. His funeral was a sad affair. The House of Percy states:"No person of the name of Percy was present, nor did any of Lady Northumberland's relatives attend."He had a grave marker over his tomb, but it disappeared by the 1760s. Today, no trace remains of his tomb.Mary Talbot was left with nothing from her marriage. She tried to beg the king for her dower rights, but the king replied that since Mary hadn't brought a dowry to the marriage she didn't deserve anything. Still, she persisted, and the king finally granted her some lands from dissolved monasteries in the area to give her a small income.Mary never remarried. She got in a spot of trouble later in her life for retaining the Roman Catholic faith and having masses said in her home. She was rumored to be a supporter of Mary Queen of Scots. She died in 1572, and was buried in Sheffield Church - pointedly not at the side of her hated husband.Percy would have been glad to know that the estate of his ancestors was eventually granted to his nephews during the reign of Queen Mary.
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